Patriotism begins when citizens care about each other, why do we have freedom, fairness for everybody not only just for the powerful?. Because we have empathy, we care about each other, without empathy there is no democracy, you do not have freedom, and fairness for everybody.
Values wins election, the values behind different programs have been proven to shift from hard times to good prosper times, democracy is based on Open Communication, Honesty, Trust, Cooperation, Service, Community, Prosperity, Opportunity, Freedom, Fulfillment, Fairness, Protection, Strength, Responsibility, and Empathy.
History tells us under the agreement struck between the Republican leadership and President Clinton, the estate tax rate, which was 55 percent under President Clinton and let’s all remember, we had problems with the economy under President Clinton but very few will deny that during those years we were creating a heck of lot more jobs than we did under President Bush. That is the fact over 20 million jobs under President Clinton. That is how we did it in the 1990s, when Bill Clinton was president. That is how we can reduce the deficit while still making the investments we need to build a strong middle class, and a strong economy.
I remind our friends often that it was not that long ago when we had the rich paying marginal tax rates of 70 percent (at the start of President Regan years); and if we want to go further back, we used to have top marginal tax rates above 90 percent in the Eisenhower years.
If we really want our country to recover its financial footage we are facing, we must roll back the Regan tax cuts that took the top marginal rate from above 70 percent down into the 30 percent range. That is the only way we can still afford to train our workers, or help our kids pay for college, or make sure that good jobs and clean energy or high tech manufacturing do not end up in countries like China.
We pay tax to have protection, security, freedom, opportunity, and to have access to enormous infrastructures of our country provides to each one of us. In addition, tax is an investment that provides dividends to everybody just to mentions some benefits:
Tax investments and dividends: National Science Foundation (Computer Science), National Institutes of Health (Medical Science), National Park Service, the Federal Reserve, The Commerce Department, Public Schools and Colleges.
The Interstate highways system. You just go out and drive on the highways, it was taxpayer investment.
The internet: You are on the computer. You turn your computer you are online, it was a taxpayer investment made by the government wisely.
I believe the way we to win and take back our Country is to create jobs, to rebuild our crumbling infrastructures. That is our roads, bridges, rail systems, water systems, wastewater plants, our dams, levees, and the need to improve broadband to make sure every community in America has access to good-quality broadband and access to cell phone service.
In the “Fiscal Cliff agreement”, we have an extension of the earned-income tax credits for working Americans, and the child and college tax credits. Every one of this agreement is very important. The program will keep millions of American from slipping out of the middle class and into poverty. They will allow millions of American to send their kids to college.