Some lawmakers are trying to give America the cartoon image of a penniless hobo, circa 1932, with holes in his pants and nothing but a cold can of beans for dinner. We're broke, they say, with no choice but to slash spending on public services.
The truth is that we're a rich nation. We need to make big changes, of course. But we should see this crisis as an opportunity to harness the country's abundant resources in ways that will make us stronger.
A new report by my organization, the Institute for Policy Studies, identifies tax and spending reforms that would not only patch up the holes in our nation's pants but create a more equitable, green, and secure nation.
First, we need to make sure that Wall Street and the wealthy pay their fair share. Our recommendations are inspired by the decades before the 1980s, when progressive tax rates and investments in infrastructure and education expanded the middle class.
We've identified six fair tax reforms that could generate $375 billion per year in new revenue. For example, we recommend raising tax rates on those who make more than $1 million per year and increasing taxes on income from wealth so that the rates are the same as those on income from work. We also call for a small tax (say, 0.25 percent) on trades of stocks, bonds, and derivatives as a way to both generate revenue and discourage the high-risk, high-frequency trading that erodes confidence in the stability of markets.
Second, we need to shrink the Pentagon. Military expenditures account for more than half of federal discretionary spending. While some jobs rely on this spending, a study by economists at the University of Massachusetts has shown that federal investment in education and health care creates more jobs, per dollar, than defense spending.
We make three recommendations that would cut $252 billion in military spending without endangering our national security. We should: 1) End the war in Afghanistan; 2) Reduce the sprawling network of overseas U.S. military bases that were built up during the Cold War era; and 3) Eliminate obsolete military programs. All three of these goals are supported by the majority of Americans.
Finally, we need to stop subsidizing polluters. The Obama administration has promised to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies, and yet U.S. taxpayers are still spending tens of billions of dollars per year on handouts to giant oil and other energy firms. We recommend eliminating this corporate welfare and introducing new taxes on pollution that could generate an estimated $197 billion per year in revenue.
If industries were required to pay the full cost of environmentally harmful practices and products, they would have greater incentive to adopt improved green technologies and reduce our nation's dependence on oil and other fossil fuels.
Our proposed reforms in these three areas — equity, environment, and security — would raise an estimated $824 billion per year, or $8.24 trillion over a decade. That's nearly seven times the total savings the congressional “supercommittee” was tasked with identifying in its deficit-reduction plan.
More importantly, these changes would help reshape our society in ways that would make us better prepared for the future.
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.
There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
After the election, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.
We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.
We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment.
We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.
With love, rage, and solidarity,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy