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There is plenty of money available to deal with the debt and deficit
without resorting to Draconian cuts in safety net programs: for starters,
increase taxes on the wealthy; levy the payroll tax on all forms of income,
including dividends, interest, rental and capital gains; levy a tax on stock
transactions; levy a special financial tax on the big banks, corporations and
investment houses which received trillions in stimulus funds and are now
sitting on $2.5 trillion in cash as a result, which they’re not using to create
jobs; eliminate the cap on Social Security earnings; slash the military/war
budget; close corporate loopholes; and eliminate corporate welfare.
Note: If the Bush tax cuts were continued for another decade intact, it
would mean $4.7 trillion more in deficits. So the big problem is on the tax
side when it comes to the fiscal cliff, not the spending side.
We need to keep our eye on the ball and focus our energy and
attention on the fight to preserve the safety net programs. For this reason,
we in the Emergency Labor Network applaud the resolution adopted
unanimously by the San Francisco Labor Council, AFL-CIO, on
November 26, 2012, which we believe places the focus on what is most
importantly at stake. Here is that resolution:
No Grand Bargain: Protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid
Whereas, the real national deficit was caused by wars, tax cuts for
the richest, reckless financial speculation, and bank bailouts; and
Whereas, both Democrats’ and Republicans’ proposals would cut
Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other vital safety net programs;
and
Whereas, the proposed program cuts would hit women, people of
color, and children hardest, the very populations that have most suffered
unemployment, wage discrimination and stagnation, homelessness, food
insecurity, and lack of medical care and education over the last 40 years of
wealth transfer to the top; and
Whereas, focusing on the “middle class” hides the problem of
expanding poverty; and
Whereas, even though Social Security has not contributed a cent to
the deficit, and the Social Security Trust Fund is entirely solvent through
2038, the “Grand Bargainers” have discussed lowering benefits by raising