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Thursday, October 02, 2008
Timely CTJ Report Pushes for Reagan Tax Proposal
Citizens for Tax Justice released a timely report yesterday examining the special tax breaks and subsidies that are currently handed out to Wall Street firms (and other companies). One in particular this report dissects is the special low rate on capital gains and dividends.
The report's introduction frames the relationship between current proposals to cut capital gains further as a solution to alleviate the financial turmoil:
Americans are in no mood to subsidize Wall Street. This became clear Monday, when the House of Representatives rejected the financial rescue plan that was supported by leaders from both parties as well as the President. Reasonable people can differ on whether the government should step in to prop up the financial system right now. There are progressives and conservatives on both sides of that issue. But what seems indisputable is that Wall Street has mismanaged its affairs and Americans are in no mood to pay for its mistakes.
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Oddly, the conservative Republicans who say they oppose the financial rescue plan because they don't want to subsidize Wall Street have simultaneously called for more subsidies for Wall Street in the form of a further reduction in taxes on investment profits! We think these
GOP conservatives are seriously confused.
The report concludes by citing a reform proposal that would go a long way to make the tax code more simple, fair, and progressive - a reform that happened to be supported by Ronald Reagan:
If House Republicans are sincere about protecting middle-income taxpayers and not giving away the store to Wall Street, then they should abandon their proposed tax cuts for Wall Street. Instead, they should join us in advocating a return to President Reagan's approach of
taxing investment profits at the same income-tax rates as wages and other kinds of income.
Posted by Adam Hughes
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