Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich examines
what the effects would be on American society if the wealthy had
to start paying their share of the tax burden. While the middle
class moves toward extinction in Bush's new Darwinian world, the
wealthy are paying less taxes than they did in 1977. Reich
proposes if the tax code required the wealthy to pay their fair
share it would add $200 billion a year to the federal budget
which could provide a Marshall Plan for America.
If the wealthy paid the same share of their income in taxes
today as they did in 1977, annual revenues to the federal
government would jump by $200 billion. That's enough to finance a
robust Democratic platform -- including good health care, good
schools and a family nest egg -- for America's struggling middle
class.
The lion's share of this great quarter-century expansion has gone
to the wealthiest 5 percent, and most of this, to the top 1
percent. While typical families sink, the wealthiest 1 percent
now pockets more than 17 percent of national income and owns
about 40 percent of the wealth. Here's the kicker: Even as
America's wealthy have become vastly wealthier, they've been
contributing a smaller and smaller percentage of their incomes to
Uncle Sam.
Rob is the
founder of the progressive news site robwire.com