This story was written by Eleanor Clift in Newsweek Magazine. Its a good plan but the dems won't win on taxes untill they attack the SS payroll tax the biggest tax 60% of all American's pay! SS taxes are taxed at 6.25% on the first $88,000 dollars then they stop, earnings above $88,000 are NOT TAXED. Dems should end the tax on the first $10,000 then tax all income at 5.25% with no upper limmit. This is a tax rate cut, a flat tax and WOULD KILL THE REPUBLICAN'S they would have to argue AGAINST a FLAT TAX. Democrat loose on taxes because the Republican's have FRAMED the tax issue as INCOME TAXES. Dem's won't win until they make Americans look at ALL TAXES PAID!
Wyden would reduce the current six tax rates to three--15, 25 and 35--and get rid of "all the glop," the 17,000 special-interest provisions added since '86. He wouldn't raise the top rate, which should calm Republican fears about class warfare, and he would preserve popular deductions like home-mortgage interest and charitable contributions.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...
Wyden is best known for his leadership on end-of-life issues and defending Oregon's Death with Dignity Act, which was upheld last week by the Supreme Court. But he was elected as a pro-business Democrat and has long been interested in tax reform. "When a reporter calls me up and says, `I want to write on domestic initiatives,' I tell them, `You start the discussion on tax simplification and everybody starts clapping'." It's been 20 years since the last tax overhaul, when then Democratic Sen. Bill Bradley worked with the Reagan administration to slash the tax rates and close loopholes. Wyden conferred with Bradley, who told him the case for reform is even stronger now than it was in 1986 because globalization has tightened the squeeze on the middle class.
Wyden would reduce the current six tax rates to three--15, 25 and 35--and get rid of "all the glop," the 17,000 special-interest provisions added since '86. He wouldn't raise the top rate, which should calm Republican fears about class warfare, and he would preserve popular deductions like home-mortgage interest and charitable contributions. When Wyden calls some of his wealthier constituents to tell them he wants the same treatment for wages and investment income, "You can hear the pause at the other end of the line." After he explains that it's not really fair to tax unearned income from investments and stocks at a lower rate than hard-earned wages, "There's another long pause before they say, `I can't argue with that'."
Wyden's plan is good politics and good policy. Cosponsored by Illinois Democrat Rahm Emmanuel in the House, it doesn't overpromise, and it reduces the deficit by $100 billion over five years. People whose income comes mostly from capital gains would pay more, but Wyden is open to lowering the top rate a percentage point to ease their pain. Marshall Wittmann, a senior fellow with the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, calls the Fair Flat Tax reform "bold and innovative" and predicts "It will be at the heart of any Democratic candidate's tax program."
Bush had intended to make tax reform a centerpiece of his second term, but he is too weakened to bring his party to any consensus. Wyden thinks his plan could attract bipartisan support. "A Republican senator told me he didn't agree with me on capital gains," Wyden told NEWSWEEK. "But he said it ought to be a requirement every 20 years to clean up the code. He laughed and said, "Then the lobbyists can come back and fill it up again."