Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) has introduced a measure to require millionaires to make “a more meaningful contribution” to reduce the deficit.
The resolution offered by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Thursday asks lawmakers to sign off on a “Sense of the Senate” that “any agreement to wealthier taxpayers should reduce the budget deficit should require that those earning $1,000,000 or more per year make a more meaningful contribution to the deficit reduction effort.”
The measure comes as Democrats argue tax breaks for businesses and the wealthy should be eliminated to help close the deficit. Republicans say such tax increases would hurt the economy.
Reid’s bill, S. 1323, is entitled “Sense of the Senate on Shared Sacrifice.” It makes a series of findings that set up an argument for why wealthier people should pay more taxes to reduce the deficit.
Can’t wait to see it, but I’m guessing it won’t include any references to this chart. Here’s an idea, if Harry Reid really wants the rich to make “a more meaningful contribution” to deficit reduction, he could sign on to the Coburn-Lieberman Medicare plan — or the Paul Ryan plan for that matter — both of which employ means-testing that would require highers earners to pay more out of pocket. Of course, neither involves rich people forking over their money directly to the government through higher taxes, so where’s the fairness in that?