Progressive Caucus Budget...Will the President include any of it?

[SHRED]

Breakdown of Policies

Individual income tax policies
1. Extend marriage relief, credits, and incentives for children, families, and education, but
let the upper-income tax cuts expire and let tax brackets revert to Clinton-era rates
2. Index the AMT for inflation for a decade (AMT patch paid for)
3. Rescind the upper-income tax cuts in the tax deal
4. Schakowsky millionaire tax rates proposal (adding 45%, 46%, and 47% top rates)
5. Progressive estate tax (Sanders estate tax, repeal of Kyl-Lincoln)
6. Tax capital gains and qualified dividends as ordinary income

Corporate tax reform
1. Tax U.S. corporate foreign income as it is earned
2. Eliminate corporate welfare for oil, gas, and coal companies
3. Enact a financial crisis responsibility fee
4. Financial speculation tax (derivatives, foreign exchange)

Health care
1. Enact a public option
2. Negotiate Rx payments with pharmaceutical companies
3. CMS program integrity and other Medicare and Medicaid savings in the president’s
budget.
4. Prevent a cut in Medicare physician payments for a decade (maintain doc fix)

Social Security
1. Raise the taxable maximum on the employee side to 90% of earnings and eliminate the
taxable maximum on the employer side
2. Increase benefits based on higher contributions on the employee side

Defense savings
1. End overseas contingency operations emergency supplementals starting in 2013,
providing $170 billion in FY2012 funding for withdrawal
2. Reduce baseline Defense spending by reducing strategic capabilities, conventional
forces, procurement, and R&D programs

Job Creation
1. Invest $1.45 trillion in job creation, early childhood, K-12 and special education, quality
child care, energy and broadband infrastructure, housing, and R&D
2. Infrastructure bank
3. Surface transportation reauthorization bill
4. Finance surface transportation reauthorization

http://grijalva.house.gov/uploads/CPC.Budget.112th.Memo.pdf

http://cpc.grijalva.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=70

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[polichick]

1. Only if he's a Democrat.

[OHdem10]

2. Here is problem and why we show our ignorance by calling others

ignorant.

Look, I am a hopeless Political Junkie who probably
spends way too much time on her interest. Since
MOST Americans get their news from TV, I have monitored
Tv, yes even watch Fox. I want to see the information
going out to the public.

I did not know the Democratic Caucus even had a budget.

IMO, we have a much bigger problem. Never have I
seen a Democrat on TV making the case seriously for
Democratic Policies.

The Image the Country is given is this. The Republican
Party has the best ideas so they put their ideas out
there. If the Democratic Party thinks an idea is not
so good they will try to "improve" it. Right now
it appears the Democratic Party believs very similarly
to the Republican Party. They will be the Me TOO party
and just not be as harsh. A Kinder Gentler Republican
Party.

Until the Democrats on the Hill Unite and GO ON TELEVISION
spreading their Gospel, the Gospel of the Righties stands.

Watch TV seriously for one month, I challenge anyone.

Added: The American People only know the Republican
Party Philosophy and principles.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. The first task for the Progressive Caucus is to get TV coverage

Having worked on the Kucinich campaign in 2004, I know what a hard task that is. I'm tired of enumerating the ways that DK was dissed and ignored by the MSM, but Dean fans can relate to coverage of "the scream," and older DUers will remember how Edmund Muskie was done in by his "tears."

We don't assassinate progressives anymore. We ignore and ridicule them. It works almost as well, even better, in fact, since they become figures of ridicule instead of martyrs.

I posted the Progressive Caucus's budget on my Facebook page. I urge everyone else who likes it to do the same.

[ProudDad]

11. Yep, since the media is essentially owned by 5 people

No Progressive agenda can get any traction...

It's an M$M media blackout...

[calimary]

13. I just posted it on my Facebook page, too.

Spread it everywhere!

Yeah, we DO have to do most of their legwork and heavy-lifting for them.

[abelenkpe]

3. I'd like to see this plan side by side

with the plans put forth in the WSJ

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703841904576257263426340504.html?mod=WSJ_Election_MIDDLETopStories

Actually I'd like to see that comparison posted everywhere on the internet and street corners. Put to a vote I think most would choose the progressive plan so any effort to get it more press and consideration is important. Think it would have to be a grass roots thing as we can't wait for the media or a special interest group to do this....


edited to add:
So basically I'm saying the pres will consider it if we force him to. If we sit back and do nothing or allow the progressive plan to be pushed to the sidelines it will die just like the idea of single payer.

[SHRED]

4. Those plans in the WSJ

They appear to be Republican, Republican Moderate, and Republican Light.

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[abelenkpe]

10. I know huh?

What kills me is they all lower corporate tax rates. Funny cause I'm pretty sure there is a recent poll that shows over 80 percent of people wanting corporations to pay their fair share, not get another break. But maybe I'm mixing that up with taxing the wealthy?

[ProudDad]

12. What's lower than ZERO!?!?!?

Oh, yeah, G.E. got $3,500,000,000 BACK FROM US on their $14,000,000,000 of "earnings"...

Way to GO!

Then Obama hired Immelt to work on "job creation"... :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[abelenkpe]

14. :) Yeah it is outrageous

Lowering the tax rate on the backs of the working class for those who already don't pay. I take that to mean they'll just be picking more out of our pockets, but perhaps I'm cynical?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

15. Besides which, the easiest way for a corporationt to lower its taxes is to

hire more people, invest in upgrades and equipment, send its employees for training, etc., all of which create more jobs for other companies.

[polichick]

6. I'd like to see the prez talk about the details of all these plans in an Oval Office talk...

Sure would be interesting to see which the voters would choose if actually given all the details.

[ProSense]

7. What's to stop them from passing it?

Not only doesn't the President have a vote in Congress, but members get to determine the nature and scope of the final budget the President signs.

Why didn't the Progressive Caucus push through its proposal when Democrats were in the majority? They could have at least introduced it.

Republicans are now passing a bunch of bills that have no chance of making out of Congress.

Some of the things proposed are in the President's budgets.

<...>

The president, in a $3.7 trillion budget plan released yesterday in Washington, revived dozens of proposals that Congress has rejected, including $129 billion in higher taxes on the overseas profits of U.S. companies. He also proposed changing the tax treatment of oil, gas and coal companies, which would raise about $46 billion.

<...>

The proposal also would bring back pre-2001 tax rates on income and capital gains for individuals earning more than $200,000 annually and married couples making more than $250,000. The estate tax would return to 2009 levels with a $3.5 million per-person exemption and a 45 percent top rate. Under a law Obama signed in December, lower rates expire at the end of 2012.


<...>

The budget plan would limit itemized deductions for top earners to 28 percent, curbing the value of tax breaks for charitable contributions, home mortgage interest and state and local taxes. That proposal has been included in every budget of Obama’s presidency and was rejected as a revenue-raising provision to fund his overhaul of the health system last year.

link

It also includes a $30 billion tax on the largest financial institutions.

The 2011 budget proposed $90 billion.

Infrastructure, job creation and other investments in President Obama's budget

The President's proposals are short of the list in the OP. Will Congress pass either version?

[polichick]

9. Why wouldn't he use his bully pulpit to push for such a Democratic plan...

...as the one proposed by the Progressive Caucus?

[Mass]

8. Is any included in Simpson-Knowles?

It seems to be what the dems have decided to follow as their starting point.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/04/obama-van-hollen-back-bowles-simpson-as-counterpoint-to-right-wing-gop-budget.php?ref=fpb

Even if it turns out to be less bad than it seems, the messaging is really lousy. Could they stand for something once in a while and say so rather than continuing on their bipartisan BS?