Remember this graphic, back from the days when we were
fighting an extension of the Bush tax cuts?
That big old gray circle at the bottom of the second column shows just how big the break, comparatively, the very wealthy have enjoyed. But you'll be glad to know that some of the people who fit in that circle are still trying to pay more in taxes.
"I do not know how much I've saved over 10 years but I’m sure it is several million dollars—probably in excess of $10 million," said Egerman, founder of a medical transcription company called eScription.
And what, HuffPost asked, have you done with all that cash?
"I've kept it," he said. "I have not done anything with that money."
Egerman is part of a gang of self-described "Patriotic Millionaires" who wish the federal government would help itself to more of their money to address its big budget deficits. Nearly 200 millionaires have signed a letter asking congressional Republicans to consider healing budget gaps with increased revenue—in particular, higher taxes on millionaires—instead of just reduced spending.
The group is coordinated by the Agenda Project, a New York think tank, and Wealth for the Common Good, a network of business leaders and wealthy people that promotes "fair and adequate taxation" to support the economy.
As is pretty darned typical for this group, Egerman didn't plow those great big tax cuts back into jobs. In fact, the surprise comes from Dal Lamagna, founder of Tweezerman, who decided to create at least a few jobs in his community of Poulsbo, WA, by having an unnecessary dance floor built in his house. "I just became a Dal Lamagna economic stimulus package in Poulsbo, Washington." But the temporary stimulus program for a handful of homebuilders in Washington state does not a stimulus package make. Which is why Lamagna joined with Egerman and the other Patriotic Millionaires in calling for real shared sacrifice.
All of this, of course, is relevant now as the Republicans refuse to consider revenue increases in the debt ceiling negotiations, despite the fact that the extension of the Bush tax cuts is adding more than $36 billion to the federal deficit this year alone. Because they don't care about the deficit.