Trying to stay rich, no matter the cost

^{By Lloyd Criss—Galveston County Democratic Party Chairman}

There is one word that terrifies the current tea party dominated Republican Party: Taxes.

Republicans at every level are so afraid of this word they would rather watch our nation and state deteriorate than support the modest tax adjustments needed to fund public education, meet society’s basic needs and balance state and federal budgets.

All but 14 of the 284 Republican members of Congress signed a pledge to Washington lobbyist, Grover Norquist, promising that, regardless of the needs of the nation, they will, “oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal income tax rate.”

Tax-phobic Republicans have abandoned the tradition of building American infrastructure and investing in people to secure our status as the greatest nation on earth.

Norquist announced their goal saying: “I don’t want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.”

Norquist and the radical Republicans have an agenda that involves the elimination of Medicare, Social Security, public education, environmental protection, bank regulation and virtually every law that protects consumers and low- and middle-income workers. We see this agenda in action in Washington and at home in Texas.

We also can see the middle class rising in protest.

The truth is federal taxes, as a share of GDP, are lower than at any time since 1943.

We might not have noticed these tax reductions because they were targeted to the wealthy and corporations. During the Eisenhower administration, the maximum income tax rate was 90 percent and they were at 50 percent under Reagan. Today, they are 35 percent (15 percent if you’re a hedge fund manager).

Today, because of loopholes, many of the very wealthy and corporations pay no income taxes. In 2008, the IRS reported that the top 400 individual earners, a group that had a minimum income of $110 million, paid taxes at an average rate of only 18 percent. To make matters worse, some of the wealthiest corporations receive multibillion-dollar subsidies.

Despite Republican claims, good government is not “free.” It requires a “change of direction” and a demonstration of political courage to make America great again. In addition to targeted spending cuts, modest tax increases are necessary and tax fairness is essential.

Republicans have pledged not to do what the country needs. In essence, they have promised their office to a Washington lobbyist.

The Democratic plan is to close the loopholes, end the subsidies and return our nation to the level of taxes paid during the Clinton administration. History has proven this will generate enough revenue to create 20 million new jobs, balance the federal budget and create a $200-billion-plus surplus.

When tax rates are too low and government cannot pay its bills, all of society suffers.

Facing a budget deficit without considering revenue is like quitting your job to focus on credit card debt.