Shouldn't the Democratic Party be asking for higher tax rates on the wealthy?

[kentuck]

It doesn't take a genius to notice that the top 1% made record profits last year. This was during one of the most severe downturns in history.

At the same time, more and more people were losing their jobs and taking paycuts. Where is the Party that will stand up for these people? Shouldn't that be the Democratic Party?

Is that too much to ask from our Party?

How about the minimum wage? What should be the minimum wage? Can anyone in America actually live on $7.25 per hour? If they have rent or a mortgage? If they have a car payment? If they have utility bills? If they must purchase food? Can anyone do that with $7.25 an hour?

How should the Democrats address these two issues? Should they ask for higher tax rates and a higher minimum wage? Or would that be too much of a political gamble? Would it destroy the Democrats in the next election if they were so brave?

[Honeycombe8]

1. They ARE asking for a higher rate, when they ask for Bush cuts to expire on the wealthy.

What else are you proposing?

[kentuck]

3. As if the Clinton tax rates were the standard for progressive taxation?

Yes, much higher.

[Honeycombe8]

8. Well, the economy was pretty good under Clinton, you have to admit.

I don't know what the rate for the top 1% was under Clinton.

But I'm not sure that raising taxes is a great campaign tool for winning elections, even for Democrats. People tend to hear "raising taxes," and don't really believe it'll be limited to the top 1% or whatever, IMO.

That's really not the #1 thing affecting the economy, IMO. They want to hear about more jobs, decreasing outsourcing, things like that.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

2. Yes!

what are the minumum wages in other weatern countries? In Uk it is around $9

[lib_wit_it]

4. Fu#k asking. Demand! Fight like hell! Sell it to the American sheeple!

[bemildred]

5. Only if they want to win. nt

[panader0]

6. Back to the FDR rates

I don't have the numbers, but the rates now are lower than Reagan and Nixon and DDE. (I think)

[Jackpine Radical]

7. Yes, that's too much to ask.

They're all intent on getting bribes donations for 2012, and people making minimum wage--even if you raise it to an actual living wage--don't have a lot of spare cash to be sending off to politicians. So obviously they have to solicit funding from that 1%, and there are certain…prerequisites…for getting a cut of the big bucks. Like creating a catfood commission to extract and reallocate sufficient funds from the poor to make the wealthy happy.

As Anatole France would no doubt have said, it's a fair system. The poor, as well as the rich, are free to bribe politicians and make make major buys of political advertising time on the mass media.

[L0oniX]

9. Rich machiavellian sociopath corporatist campaign donors are the life blood of our government.

Until that is stopped you can forget about everything. We are done!

[patrice]

11. What do you think of the idea of foregoing "Movement to Amend" and going around Citizens' United by

creating Public Campaign Finance and concentrating on Paper Ballots Marked by Hand and Counted in Public on a Public Voting Holiday that begins on a Friday and ends on Tuesday?

I suppose Citizens' United style non-profits can still channel more money into a race than Public Financing can match, but wouldn't some/most(?) of the difference be made up by a fair count of ALL of the votes.

[L0oniX]

13. I think Public Campaign Finance is the only way to counter what the SCOTUS did.

[patrice]

16. In our state, I have big concerns for candidates who could take money from certain

issue groups who are rather non-PC (from Planned Parenthood, for example). That money could make a big difference on that issue (and I imagine there are other issues out there that are NOT going to be able to survive without that Citizens' United style money). So, "they" have us in a pinch with Citizens' United; it's a double-edged sword. That's why I am much more in favor of the Public Finance route as a much higher priority, to give those issue candidates something to survive on, if and when "we" ever get close to over-turning Citizens' United.

[patrice]

Where there is no party unity, it's only divide & conquor and the GOP knows that it's only a matter

of time.

[KoKo]

10. Kentuck...I do feel this is a QUESTION worth Asking? Why are our Dem Party that I contribute and

belong to not asking this? How can this be?

Tax the Rich and Give Tax Cuts to the Poorer Amongst us. If that SLEAZY IDIOT.. SIMPSON wants to GUT THE GREEDY then TELL HIM TO INCREASE THE DEDUCTABLE for SS TAX WITHOLDING. The GREEDY are those who get our paying SS after around $150,000 of Deductable of SS.

Let's talk about WHO REALLY NEEDS SS and WHO DOESN'T. And While we are At it...throw Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles "UNDER THE BUS!"

[Incitatus]

12. Yes, part of the problem is poor people who are so damn stupid that they think it will hurt them

I know a couple people who don't make much and seriously complain about how much taxes they will have to pay if they win the lottery, so they are against raising them.

[OlympicBrian]

14. The Longer Term Plans for Taxation Hinge on the Outcome of the Debt Commission Plan

The Bush tax cut expiration (or not) is a short-term tax issue.

The longer-term tax plans are being formulated by the "Debt Commission" (formally, the "National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform".)

There are four plan proposals so far, and only one of them--proposed by a Democrat--appears progressive. And there are only four days left to vote on the final plan. So yeah, I think to answer your question there is a proposal out there to tax the wealthy, although I haven't analyzed it in detail. The question I have is why people (Democrats) are not aware of this and are not rallying around that plan.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9640688

Among other things, the Democratic plan will "Adopt the President’s proposals to eliminate overseas tax havens and incentives for outsourcing"

That will get a fair share of record corporate profits...

[Stinky The Clown]

15. That was the Democratic Party of twenty years ago. THIS Democratic Party is a leeeetle bit different

[kentuck]

17. Are you saying I belong to a Party that I don't even know what it stands for??

Pray tell, what's a person to do??

[OHdem10]

18. This is not intended to create dissension, but when the DLC

was formed, from the very beginning--the mantra has been
almost repetitive that we believe in tax cuts also.

For some DLC members, it appears their mission is to
discredit the FDR NEW DEAL. How often does one hear
describe the NEW DEAL as old outmoded programs.

This is not to beat up on DLC but to understand when
and how our party changed.