Even in the minority, House Democrats want to push forward with their agenda to raise taxes on Big Business and Wall Street to redistribute wealth to working-class families.
Claiming that redistribution will fix a broken system that favors the rich, Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) said in a speech at Washington’s Center for American Progress, “The tax code is now skewed in favor of people who make money off of money and against those who make money off of work.”
“Surely we can change the tax code to incentivize corporations to give employees bigger paychecks and reward people who earn money through hard work,” said the ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee.
According to the Washington Post, this is a stark shift in messaging for Democrats. The plan calls for a redistribution of approximately $1.2 billion from “high rollers” on Wall Street via new fees on financial transactions and into the pockets of middle-class Americans, any couple making under $200,000 according to the Democrat plan. A “paycheck bonus credit” would cut $2,000 per year from tax bills. Other details in the plan call for tripling the tax credit for child care and some form of monetary reward for people who save at least $500 per year to help in house moving expenses.
The proposal was endorsed by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) who said in an interview, “The challenge is a big one. You have to think big, you have to think forward, and you have to think new. You have to think new and fresh.”
Income inequality has been a staple of the Democrat Party for years and been a major theme in campaigns and speeches.
Brendan Buck, spokesman for Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), the Chairman for the House Ways
and Means Committee, dismissed the liberal proposal, “Just as the sun rises in the east, Washington Democrats propose another massive tax increase. Here in the House our focus is going to be on cleaning up the tax code so that we can lower rates for all taxpayers and help create good-paying jobs, not scaring them off with punitive tax hikes.”