Millionaire Surcharge Tax? Yes Please!

Well, it looks like we’ve finally grown some courage in the Senate. Bernie Sanders, the only Socialist to ever serve in Congress, has introduced the Emergency Deficit Reduction Act, which is the sanest piece of legislation I have ever seen, I think.

The proposed act, via DailyKos,

would raise in the neighborhood of $50 billion. The bill would also get rid of tax breaks for oil and gas companies to the tune of $3.5 billion. This comes close to the $61 billion that House Republicans (and some Democrats) have decided to chop from programs in education, environmental regulation, heating subsidies for the poor, Planned Parenthood, nutrition, the Peace Corps and others.

In even saner commentary, also from DailyKos:

Austerity is not on the table for those who were hurt least by the Great Recession and have been doing phenomenally well in an economic recovery that has yet to touch millions of unemployed people, some of whom have lost their homes and their savings as well as their jobs. Many of them long ago exhausted any unemployment compensation they were eligible to receive. What an insane joke is “shared sacrifice” to them while the top 1 percent of Americans continue to widen the income and wealth gap between themselves and everybody else, helped along by out-of-whack tax policies.

Of course, there is essentially zero chance of getting the sponsors necessary to move the bill forward. Not to mention that the only way I’d believe this would be passed was if I were on some strong reality-bending drugs. Even so, got to stay positive on Friday! Senator Sanders, you are truly a hero!