The idea that the Democratic Party abandoned the working class may seem ridiculous at face value: Democrats passed child tax credits Republicans reversed, tried to pass a national minimum wage of $15 that Republicans defeated, and proposed tax credits for child care which Republicans opposed.
However, the exit polls are clear that Americans experiencing economic hardships voted for Trump:
Family’s financial situation today
22,914 total respondents
|
Better than 4 years ago
24%
|
Worse than 4 years ago
46%
|
About the same
30%
|
| Harris |
82% |
17% |
69% |
| Trump |
14% |
81% |
28% |
So to try to answer the question, what have you done for me lately, here are three simple proposals:
1-No federal income tax besides the payroll tax on the first $100,000 in income
2-Double the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour including those earning tips
3-Offer $3,000 a month vouchers for child care per child for children under 5 years
The top 5% pay 66% of total income taxes today, so a tax increase for them could actually replace the 10% of total income taxes paid by the bottom 75%, while making a huge difference for workers. The current two highest 35% and 37% tax brackets coincide with the 5% and 1% percentile cutoffs. So by increasing the tax rates for those two brackets back to the levels we had from 1982 to 1986 during the Reagan administration, we could end the federal income tax on the first $100,000 in pay without resorting to tariffs or national sales and consumption taxes like Republicans have proposed.
Increasing the minimum wage has broad popular support and small businesses have shown today they can adapt in the states that already raised their minimum wages to $15 an hour by state law. It’s time to make the change at a national level and make it a focus of every Democratic campaign.
Child care costs continue to rise, to the point where some families decide that it’s more cost effective for one parent to stay home instead of paying for child care. Universal preschool could help but is a complex proposal that would need cooperation from state and local governments or school boards. On the other hand, vouchers for child care could help solve the problem immediately and increase the supply of child care facilities by increasing the demand while helping parents pay who could not. While this is an expensive proposal, it could be paid for by a new that tax Elizabeth Warren proposed on fortunes over $50 million, or alternatively, an increase in the capital gains tax could cover it, too.
These may seem like oversimplified solutions and no doubt some details would need to be filled in, but instead of fighting the culture wars we could show the American people that Democrats do care about their bottom line, and putting more money in their pocket. For Donald Trump, it’s all just talk.
