Schakowsky's Bill: Raise Taxes, Restore Progressive Income Tax

Hey Barry:

Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill) is on it. She proposed a bill in March to raise taxes to help with the budget.

My only concern is that her bill is way too timid, but it's a start. It's something we used to have in the country - a Progressive income tax. It's time we brought it back.

Read the whole article here by Lucia Graves: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/16/jan-schakowsky-income-tax_n_836624.html

Excerpt:

"Schakowsky's bill would create new tax brackets for earners making between $1 million and $1 billion annually, with tax rates starting at 45 percent with the millionth dollar and increasing on a sliding scale. The legislation would also tax capital gains and dividend income as ordinary income for those earning over $1 million in a given year. A full list of the new brackets appears below:

$1-10 million: 45%

$10-20 million: 46%

$20-100 million: 47%

$100 million to $1 billion: 48%

$1 billion and over: 49%

If enacted in 2011, Schakowsky's Fairness in Taxation Act would raise an estimated $78.9 billion in its first year, according to Citizens for Tax Justice, a liberal lobbying group. CTJ was unable to provide further projections, however.

Reps. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) and Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), co-chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, partnered with Democratic Reps. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (Ill.), Donna Edwards (Md.), Bob Filner (Calif.), Jerry Nadler (N.Y.), Steve Cohen (Tenn.), John Yarmuth (Ky.) and Peter DeFazio (Ore.) to cosponsor the bill."

We need your support Barry.

Your pal,