Katrina vanden Heuvel: Dems Fail Litmus Test

[marmar]

from The Nation:


BLOG | Posted 10/09/2007 @ 4:29pm
Dems Fail Litmus Test



The Washington Post reported today that Sen. Harry Reid ☼ has informed private-equity funds that the Senate will not be closing the obscenely inequitable tax loophole that allows mega-billionaires to be taxed at 15 percent – lower than most working Americans. Harry says there simply isn't time in the busy Senate schedule. Seriously. And the Post points out that if there isn't time in 2007, there almost certainly won't be in 2008 either – "Congress tends to be leery of tax increases in election years."

I'm sure this has nothing whatsoever to do with the private-equity firms and hedge funders putting "more than 20 lobbying firms" to work for them in the Halls of Congress. Nor is Reid's about face a sign of the Wall Street Execs "increasing their campaign donations to members of Congress." It's simply a jam-packed schedule – who has time to address the shafting of revenues for public infrastructure investment? Rebuilding the shredded social contract? funding health care, education, or new sustainable energy programs? Making up for lost revenues due to insane Bush tax cuts?

As I posted previously, this was a litmus test for Democrats – to see whether the party > is capable of truly taking a stand for working people. They have failed it. Rick Perlstein blogged today of Democratic capitulations on this issue and FISA.

Ari Berman noted that Barack Obama – and kudos to him – wasted no time in calling out this bad decision. Within hours, John Edwards had done the same, saying in a released statement, "Incredibly, for an investment of about $6 million dollars in lobbying fees – and another $6 million in political contributions – these elite Wall Street traders preserved a $6 billion tax break for themselves…. We have to end the rigged system in Washington that rewards big corporate interests at the expense of hard-working families."

Certainly Sen. Bernie Sanders gets it. The longtime fighter for a fairer and more decent America told me: "At a time when poverty is increasing, the middle class is shrinking and the distribution of wealth and income is more unequal than at any time since the 1920s, it is imperative that Congress initiate progressive tax reform which asks the rich and large corporations to start paying their fair share of taxes. This tax reform should certainly include raising the tax rate on private-equity firms and hedge funds from the current 15 percent... The American people want us to move this country in a new direction, and progressive tax reform is central to that effort." And Sen. Sherrod Brown ☼ is sticking to his principles on this issue too, telling me, "The income tax system should be the same for the trucker from Greenwich, Ohio, making 20 dollars an hour as for the hedge fund manager from Greenwich, Connecticut, making 20 million dollars a year. Carried interest is compensation for managing other people's money, pure and simple. I believe it should be taxed accordingly."

Here's hoping that more Democrats rediscover their spines and tell Harry Reid he's way off on this. Along with the promise to end the war, telling working Americans that they would stand up for them is the reason Dems are in the majority.

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut?bid=7&pid=241286

[MannyGoldstein]

1. Am I The Only One That's Really, REALLY Sick Of This?

I'm so, so, so tired of this "We suck suck slightly less than the Republicans - who else ya gonna vote for, assholes?!" strategy that the "Democrats" have settled on. I'm ready to vote the entire lot of 'em out of office. They are a disgusting bunch.

[WCGreen]

2. I'm a tax preparer and I see what working people have to pay in

taxes and these guys, 'cause it's pretty much a boys locker room mentality that runs through these "Masters of the Universe" ass wipes, who are paying capital gains on all of their income is just obscene and so against what democrats should stand for...

[MannyGoldstein]

4. Isn't It Just Totally Fucked?

A flat tax would be a huge improvement!

[Trillo]

3. Very crafty frame!

Apparently, according to The Nation's markup, a progressive tax is the same as a flat tax. :rofl:

[Fredda Weinberg]

5. vanden Heuvel speaking for working people? Give me a break!!!

I wish I'd never met the person - but I know how she handles the hired help. It was not pleasant.

[Baby Snooks]

6. Who does the Democratic leadership represent?

Apparently the Democratic leadership represents the same people the Republican leadership represents. And it is not the average American. It is the corporate elite and independently wealthy and their "fund managers" who are enjoying nice profits and even nicer commissions off the highest Dow Jones index in history while most Americans are barely able to make ends meet and millions face foreclosure on their homes and upon foreclosure face additional taxes on "forgiven debt" which is taxed at the indexed income rates. Not the flat rate given to the corporate elite and independently wealthy.

Who does the Democratic leadership represent? Not us. Not the average American. Wake up before it's too late. Reid should be recalled by his constituents as should Pelosi. As should everyone else in this "Democratic" Congress who thinks the American people can just eat cake. A growing number can no longer afford even the cake.

No doubt we will soon have the Democratic "trickle down" theory explained to all of us. Piss on me once, shame on you. Piss on me twice, shame on me.

Recall, recall, recall. Impeach, impeach, impeach.

[AdHocSolver]

7. The only solution is to run progressive candidates in primaries against entrenched Democrats who...

don't support the people. In our state, the party "leadership" often ignores the people's interests and "rigs" the system in favor of its own "loyal" candidates.

The only way to overcome this is to use the same technique used against the right-wing Republicans. You start running progressive candidates at the local level, even against Democratic incumbents who don't serve the people's interests, and branch out to higher levels in local and state government.

In other words, you retake control of the Democratic party, first, to allow progressives to retake control of the State and national governments.