Sen. Kent Conrad
This isn't something you'll see on these pages a lot, but
good on you, Kent Conrad!
Millionaires would be hit with a 3 percent surtax under a draft Senate Democratic budget.
A Senate aide told The Hill on Wednesday that the draft 2012 budget outline presented at Tuesday's Democratic policy lunch by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) called for a 3 percent surtax on income over $1 million a year....
For their part, Republican leaders in both the House and the Senate have said that tax increases are off the table in the talks over deficit-reduction, as Washington officials have coalesced around a target of lopping at least $4 trillion off the deficit over a decade.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), one of the more liberal members of the Democratic caucus, introduced legislation earlier this year that would have placed a 5.4 percent surtax on annual of more than $1 million. Sanders said that policy would create roughly $50 billion a year in new revenues for the United States.
Keep sticking up for the millionaires, Republicans, while you try to take away Medicare and Medicaid. That's a winning strategy! But back to Conrad, who has pointed out that his committee, the Budget committee gets to tell the Finance Committee how much money should be raised in the budget, but the Finance Committee actually determines where that revenue comes from. So it will essentially be Sen. Max Baucus's (D-MT) call, but this is great movement from Conrad, along with his move to the left on the budget breakdown between spending cuts and revenue increases.
If it can all be attributed to the necessity of getting Sen. Bernie Sander's (I-VT) vote in committee, thanks Sen. Sanders. But credit to Conrad where it is due. He's moving in the right direction.