When the debate over the fiscal 2012 budget began, the country — or, more accurately, the media — was focused on Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) proposal. Introduced on behalf of the Republican House majority, our colleague's plan puts the interests of wealthy corporations first by slashing Medicare and Medicaid and spending trillions on a new corporate tax cut.
Indeed, cutting is all it seems to do. The Ryan plan slashes transportation investments in roads, bridges, rail lines, transit systems and airports by $318 billion over the next 10 years. It cuts 1.7 million low-income students from Pell Grant eligibility. That's not a jobs plan — that's an economic death sentence.
The public isn't buying it. An April 17 Washington Post/ABC poll found what countless polls have told us before: An overwhelming majority (72 percent in this case) supports the highest earners paying more of their fair share in taxes as the best way to eliminate the national debt. There's good reason we saw this ThinkProgress headline April 20: “Paul Ryan Booed At Town Hall For Defending Tax Breaks For The Wealthy.”
A serious conversation about our nation's fiscal future can't begin and end with a plan that the public finds too radical to support. That's why the Congressional Progressive Caucus introduced its People's Budget alternative April 15 on the floor of the House.
Our plan generates a government surplus within 10 years, by closing tax loopholes that let companies ship jobs overseas, eliminating expensive oil and gas subsidies, ending our wars abroad and creating jobs. Republicans tend to view the budget as a question of how to shrink rather than how to grow. The People's Budget allows the economy to grow by investing wisely, cutting prudently and ensuring that all people pay their fair share.
The budget should make the country stronger. Republicans keep telling us we have to “make tough choices,” “be responsible” and “take our medicine.” They're all austerity and no prosperity. They never talk about how their budget actually creates jobs, or protects health care, or improves education, or upgrades infrastructure — because it doesn't do any of those things.
The People's Budget rolls back the irresponsible Bush-era tax giveaways and invests $1.7 trillion in job training, infrastructure and other priorities that have languished for too long.
That's why we're calling on the Senate to take up the people's values, and the People's Budget, in the coming days and weeks. Especially popular elements, including a fairer tax code for millionaires and billionaires, would be potent messages back home as well as in the halls of Congress. It's a no-brainer for our colleagues across the Hill, and it's what the voters have already said they expect from us. When the Senate follows through, the whole country will reap the rewards.
The country needs a jobs plan, and the People's Budget is a plan that will work. That's why it's already been endorsed by experts such as Jeffrey Sachs, Ph.D., of Columbia University, who wrote in a recent Huffington Post opinion piece that our budget is “humane, responsible, and most of all sensible, reflecting the true values of the American people and the real needs of the floundering economy.” Sachs doesn't use these words lightly — the reason he's been named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People twice is because he takes ideas seriously and means what he says.
So do we, and so should Rep. Ryan. His proposal has, curiously, been granted more credibility the more deeply it tears at the fabric of our nation. But demanding more sacrifice from a nation already reeling from a brutal recession isn't a sign of seriousness or responsibility.
It's time we give at least equal weight to a plan that takes job creation seriously, reflects the will of the American people and generates a government surplus in 10 years. According to a Gallup poll published March 31, the top two public preferences for improving the economy are “Stop sending jobs overseas” and “Create more infrastructure work.” Our budget does more than any other plan out there — we even create a new infrastructure investment bank so we can plan wisely for the new economy.
Republicans have rejected the growth model the American people strongly prefer. Our budget embraces it. There's no reason to hold our noses and vote for the Ryan proposal in the name of responsibility — it is a deeply irresponsible document. The People's Budget, in comparison, speaks for itself: a surplus in 10 years, an end to the wars that have drained our Treasury, a fairer and more transparent tax code and bold investments in job creation.
This conversation will continue long after Congress moves on from the budget vote. Our budget is a blueprint for American prosperity and fiscal responsibility. It is the People's Budget because it embraces the values and supports the interests of the American people.
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.
You can help by giving today. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.