A Progressive Budget Blueprint

Let's Pass a Fair Budget

At a time when the middle class is disappearing, poverty is increasing and the gap between the rich and everyone else is growing wider, we demand that the federal budget not be balanced on the backs of the most vulnerable people in our country.

We demand a budget that puts millions of Americans back to work in decent paying jobs and ensures profitable corporations and the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share. We demand a budget that does not cut Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid benefits.

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Top 1% Income Share

Click to see the top 0.01% income share.

Top 0.01% Income Share

Click to see the top 1% income share.

The richest 400 Americans are worth more than the poorest 150 million Americans combined and those in the bottom 60 percent only hold 1.7 percent of the nation's wealth.

Wealth Distribution in the United States

35.4%

27.7%

13.6%

12.2%

9.4%

1.7%

Top 1%

Next 4%

Next 5%

Next 10%

Next 20%

Bottom 60%

“Instead of talking about cuts in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, we must end the absurdity of corporations not paying a nickel in federal income taxes.”

- Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)

Corporate Taxes

Click to see corporate profits.

Corporate Profits

Click to see corporate tax revenue share.

In 1952, 32 percent of all of the revenue generated in this country came from large corporations. Today, less than 10 percent comes from corporate America.

In the last twenty years, corporate profits have quadrupled while the corporate tax percent has dropped by half.

From 2009 to 2012, 95 percent of the new income generated in this country went to the top 1 percent.

Real Income Growth by Groups
	Top 1% Incomes Growth	Bottom 99% Incomes Growth	Fraction of total growth (or loss) captured by top 1%
Clinton Expansion (1993-2000)	98.7%	20.3%	45% Growth
Bush Expansion (2002-2007)	61.8%	6.8%	65% Growth
Recovery (2009-2012)	6%	0.4%	95% Growth

Source: UC Berkeley

“Let's never forget that when President Clinton left office in January of 2001 this country had an annual federal budget surplus of $236 billion with projected budget surpluses as far as the eye could see.”

- Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)

Long-term Debt Drivers

By 2019, the Bush tax cuts and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq will account for almost half of the $17 trillion in debt that will be owed.

What's in the Republican budget?

“... a retread of ideas that voters soundly rejected, made even worse, if possible, by sharper cuts to vital services and more dishonest tax provisions.” Rep. Paul Ryan's Budget on Medicare »

$356 billion cut to Medicare over the first ten years with more cuts when the voucher plan takes effect in 2024. Rep. Paul Ryan's Budget on Medicaid »

$810 billion cut to Medicaid which would deny health insurance to up to 20 million Americans. Rep. Paul Ryan's Budget on nutrition »

$135 billion cut to food stamps denying food to up to 10 million Americans. Rep. Paul Ryan's Budget on health care »

Repeals Affordable Care Act and prevents more than 20 million Americans from receiving health insurance. Rep. Paul Ryan's Budget on education »

Over $100 billion in cuts to Pell Grants and other student aid that could deny an affordable education to up to one million students. The New York Times on Ryan's budget »

What do you think?

Should spending on Social Security be cut back a lot, some, or not at all to help reduce the deficit?

A lot

Some

Not at all

Overwhelmingly, Americans say they are opposed to any cuts to Social Security. Only 3 percent said they would cut the program "a lot."

76%
oppose any cuts to Social Security.

Oct. 2013 poll from United Technologies and National Journal
Should spending on Medicare be cut back a lot, some, or not at all to help reduce the deficit?

A lot

Some

Not at all

More than eight in ten Americans polled were against any cuts to Medicare. Only 4 percent said they would cut the program "a lot."

81%
oppose any cuts to Medicare.

Oct. 2013 poll from United Technologies and National Journal
Should spending on Medicaid be cut back a lot, some, or not at all to help reduce the deficit?

A lot

Some

Not at all

Sixty-one percent of Americans say they are opposed to any cuts to Medicaid. Only 7 percent said they would cut the program "a lot."

60%
oppose any cuts to Medicaid.

Oct. 2013 poll from United Technologies and National Journal

1

Stop corporations from using offshore tax havens to avoid U.S. taxes.
Each and every year, the United States loses an estimated $100 billion in tax revenues due to offshore tax abuses by the wealthy and large corporations. The situation has become so absurd that one five-story office building in the Cayman Islands is now the “home” to more than 18,000 corporations.

The wealthy and large corporations should not be allowed to avoid paying taxes by setting up tax shelters in Panama, the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, the Bahamas or other tax haven countries. The first bill that I introduced in the Senate (the Corporate Tax Dodging Prevention Act) would raise more than $580 billion over the next decade by eliminating the most egregious corporate offshore tax haven abuses.
2

Establish a Robin Hood tax on Wall Street speculators.
Both the economic crisis and the deficit crisis are a direct result of the greed and recklessness on Wall Street. Creating a speculation fee of just 0.03 percent on the sale of credit default swaps, derivatives, options, futures, and large amounts of stock would reduce gambling on Wall Street, encourage the financial sector to invest in the job-creating productive economy, and reduce the deficit by $352 billion over 10 years, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.
3

End tax breaks and subsidies for big oil, gas and coal companies.
If we ended tax breaks and subsidies for big oil, gas and coal companies, we could reduce the deficit by more than $113 billion over the next 10 years. The five largest oil companies in the United States have made over $1 trillion in profits over the past decade. Exxon Mobil is now the most profitable corporation in the world. Large, profitable fossil fuel companies do not need a tax break.
4

Establish a progressive estate tax.
If we established a progressive estate tax on inherited wealth of more than $3.5 million, we could raise more than $300 billion over 10 years. In 2010, Sen. Sanders introduced the Responsible Estate Tax Act that would reduce the deficit in a fair way while ensuring that 99.7 percent of Americans would never pay a penny in estate taxes.
5

Tax capital gains and dividends the same as work.
Taxing capital gains and dividends the same way that we tax work would raise more than $500 billion over the next decade. Warren Buffet has often said that he pays a lower effective tax rate than his secretary. The reason for this is that the wealthy obtain most of their income from capital gains and dividends, which is taxed at a much lower rate than work. Right now, the top marginal income tax for working is 39.6 percent, but the top tax rate on corporate dividends and capital gains is only 23.9 percent.
6

Repeal all of the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax breaks for the top two percent.
In January, Congress finally repealed the Bush tax breaks for the top one percent — households making more than $450,000 a year. But the Bush tax breaks have been continued for the top two percent — households with incomes between $250,000 and $450,000 a year. Repealing the Bush tax breaks for all of the top two percent would reduce the deficit by about $400 billion over the next decade. After President Clinton increased taxes on the top two percent, the economy added over 22 million jobs. After President Bush reduced taxes for the rich, the economy lost over 600,000 private sector jobs.
7

Eliminate the cap on taxable income that goes into the Social Security Trust Fund.
If we are serious about making sure that Social Security can pay all of the benefits owed to every eligible American for the next 50 to 75 years, we don't do that by cutting benefits, we do that by scrapping the cap on taxable income so that a millionaire and a billionaire pays the same percentage of their income into Social Security as someone making $40,000 or $50,000 a year. Right now, someone who earns $113,700 a year pays the same amount of money in Social Security taxes as a billionaire. This makes no sense. Applying the Social Security payroll tax on income above $250,000 would ensure that Social Security remains solvent for the next 50 years. This plan would only impact the wealthiest 1.3 percent of wage earners; 98.7 percent of wage earners in the United States would not see their taxes go up by one dime.
8

Establish a currency manipulation fee on China and other countries.
As almost everyone knows, China is manipulating its currency, giving it an unfair trade advantage over the United States and destroying decent paying manufacturing jobs in the process. If we imposed a currency manipulation fee on China and other currency manipulators, the Economic Policy Institute has estimated that we could raise $500 billion over 10 years and create 1 million jobs in the process.
9

Reduce unnecessary and wasteful spending at the Pentagon.
We should reduce unnecessary and wasteful spending at the pentagon, which now consumes over half of our discretionary budget. Much of the huge spending at the Pentagon is devoted to spending money on Cold War weapons programs to fight a Soviet Union that no longer exists. Lawrence Korb, an assistant secretary of defense under Ronald Reagan, has estimated that we could achieve significant savings of around $100 billion a year at the Pentagon while still ensuring that the United States has the strongest and most powerful military in the world.
10

Require Medicare to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices with the pharmaceutical industry.
Requiring Medicare to negotiate drug prices, similarly to what the VA currently does, would save more than $240 billion over 10 years.

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Let's Pass a Fair Budget