The Senate Budget Committee on Thursday postponed action on a budget. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a member of the panel, said he will continue to make the case for lowering deficits by reducing spending and raising more revenue.  A surtax on millionaires was one of several proposals he offered. Meanwhile, the Senate is expected to vote next week on a House-passed budget resolution that would eliminate Medicare and Medicaid as we know them and give away $1 trillion in new tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans and profitable corporations.  “In the midst of a severe recession with millions of middle-class and low-income Americans experiencing deep financial pains, deficit reduction cannot be brought about solely on the backs of the sick, the elderly, the children and the poor as the Republicans proposed in their budget,” Sanders said on Thursday.

“I will not support any budget agreement unless there is shared sacrifice, unless the wealthiest people in this country – who are doing phenomenally well – are asked to pay their fair share of taxes, unless we do away with loopholes and tax breaks which enable companies making billions of dollars in profits to evade paying any taxes at all,” he added. 

“At a time when the military budget has tripled since 1997, we also need to take a look at unnecessary military spending,” the senator said.