The budget plan 'fixes an economy that, for too long, has failed to provide the opportunities American families need to get ahead,' says Congressional Progressive Caucus
On Tuesday, the Republicans released their budget. It was even worse than expected. It seeks to balance the budget on the backs of people like us and at the expense of the planet.
The GOP budget would slash support for clean water and public health programs. It cuts Medicare and Medicaid. It targets the most vulnerable. Everything from renewable energy to environmental regulations, Pell grants for college, and support for impoverished schools are all on the block.
Meanwhile, it cuts taxes on the wealthy and multinational corporations.
Congress should vote this terrible budget down. But that’s not enough. Join our partners at the Daily Kos and others across America to let our members of Congress know that we want an alternative that makes sense.
Help protect people and the planet: Become a citizen co-sponsor of the People’s Budget.
This is a budget that puts the environment and ourselves ahead of giant corporations' profits. It would end corporate welfare for Big Oil, impose a tax on Wall Street transactions, and give the climate a fighting chance by taxing carbon emissions.
Take action now: Say NO to corporate welfare for Big Oil and YES to fighting climate change.
But that’s not all. The People’s Budget makes investments vital to our future. It supports renewable energy development and makes preschool and college available to all. In the next decade, it will create 8 million jobs. It pays for this by reducing bloated Pentagon budgets, and ensuring the rich and corporations pay their fair share of taxes.
Click here to sign on as a citizen co-sponsor of the People's Budget and help put people ahead of corporate profits.
It is time for Congress to hear that Americans want a new course. We know the deck is stacked. We want a straight deal. Join us as a citizen co-sponsor of the CPC People’s Budget.
On Tuesday, the Republicans released their budget. It was even worse than expected. It seeks to balance the budget on the backs of people like us and at the expense of the planet.
The GOP budget would slash support for clean water and public health programs. It cuts Medicare and Medicaid. It targets the most vulnerable. Everything from renewable energy to environmental regulations, Pell grants for college, and support for impoverished schools are all on the block.
Meanwhile, it cuts taxes on the wealthy and multinational corporations.
Congress should vote this terrible budget down. But that’s not enough. Join our partners at the Daily Kos and others across America to let our members of Congress know that we want an alternative that makes sense.
Help protect people and the planet: Become a citizen co-sponsor of the People’s Budget.
This is a budget that puts the environment and ourselves ahead of giant corporations' profits. It would end corporate welfare for Big Oil, impose a tax on Wall Street transactions, and give the climate a fighting chance by taxing carbon emissions.
Take action now: Say NO to corporate welfare for Big Oil and YES to fighting climate change.
But that’s not all. The People’s Budget makes investments vital to our future. It supports renewable energy development and makes preschool and college available to all. In the next decade, it will create 8 million jobs. It pays for this by reducing bloated Pentagon budgets, and ensuring the rich and corporations pay their fair share of taxes.
Click here to sign on as a citizen co-sponsor of the People's Budget and help put people ahead of corporate profits.
It is time for Congress to hear that Americans want a new course. We know the deck is stacked. We want a straight deal. Join us as a citizen co-sponsor of the CPC People’s Budget.
The People's Budget claims it will drive full economic recovery by creating high-quality jobs and reducing family expenses, restoring the buying power of working Americans. (Image: CPC)
Offering a sustainable alternative to regressive federal budget proposals put forth this week by the Republican majorities on Capitol Hill, the Congressional Progressive Caucus on Wednesday released The People's Budget: A Raise for America, which aims to "level the playing field" for low- and middle-income Americans.
Surrounded by constituents the proposal is designed to help, leaders of the CPC unveiledthe budget blueprint at a Washington, D.C. press conference at noon EST:
"The People's Budget fixes an economy that, for too long, has failed to provide the opportunities American families need to get ahead," the document reads. "Despite their skills and work ethic, most American workers workers and families are so financially strapped from increasing income inequality that their paychecks barely cover basic necessities. They earn less and less as corporations and the wealthy continue amassing record profits. It has become clear to American workers that the system is rigged."
The CPC budget (pdf), in turn, attempts to un-rig that system by:
- creating new jobs
- increasing the minimum wage
- reversing harmful cuts to safety net programs (and then bolstering those same supports)
- implementing new tax brackets for those who earn more than $1 million annually
- providing debt-free college to every student
- enacting a price on carbon pollution and investing in renewable energy
- allowing states to transition to single-payer health care systems
- funding public financing of campaigns to curb special interest influence in politics.
Among other things, the proposal would allocate $820 billion for infrastructure and transportation improvements and enact short-term economic stimulus measures that would create 4.7 million jobs in 2015.
Supporters hold a banner while CPC co-chair Rep. Keith Elllison (D-Minn.) speaks during Wednesday's press conference. (Photo: Twitpic/@USprogressives)
"And the CPC insists that the rich and corporations pay their fair share of taxes," writesRobert Borosage, of the Campaign for America's Future, in an op-ed published Wednesday. "It would create new tax brackets for those making a million or more. The People’s Budgetraises the estate tax for the super-wealthy. It taxes the income of investors at the same rates as the income of workers. It terminates deferral, which allows multinationals to avoid taxes on money they report as earned abroad."
Overall, the provisions included in the CPC budget contrast sharply with the austerity policies embraced by the right-wing.
"The People's Budget reverses the past few years of extraordinarily sharp cuts to federal spending, which have held us back from a full recovery," said Thomas Hungerford, an economist who analyzed the proposal for the Economic Policy Institute. "It is a forward-looking, evidence-based document that would set us on track to a full, durable recovery from the Great Recession."
In comparison with GOP budget plans, the CPC's ambitious proposal is "about as close to common sense as Congress gets," declared
"With few exceptions, Republicans are committed to slashing the basic functions of government and programs that support education, food stamps, energy and R&D to avoid asking corporations or the wealthy to contribute even one more dime in taxes," she wrote.
However, she continued: "What the CPC budget shows is what Washington too often suppresses: There is an alternative. We can afford to build a society that reflects the values and priorities of most Americans. We only have to choose to do so."
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