Progressives introduce 'Restore the American Dream for the 99 percent Act'

On Tuesday, Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-Chairs Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) introduced the Restore the American Dream for the 99% Act.

The bill, getting its name from the Occupy Wall Street mantra, is presented as "a comprehensive package of emergency jobs legislation, sensible revenue raisers" and an "end" to wars and "unnecessary weapons platforms" in an effort to save Social Security and other social programs.

A PDF file at Rep. Grijalva's website states:

After repeated efforts by conservative Washington politicians to reenact the same failed policies, Members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) took action. CPC Members traveled across the country listening to the American people. Americans told us they want work and that cutting Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment insurance and education is unacceptable; they want big banks to clean up the mess they made and millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share.

According to Grijalva, the bill would create five million jobs over the next two years while allegedly reducing the budget deficit by more than $2 trillion over the next ten years.

Sounds good, right?

But as is the case with most bills that promise the moon, this one comes with a price Republicans simply will not accept.

Not only does the bill create a new bureaucracy called the "Community Corps" designed to "take care of our neighborhoods," it raises taxes on the so-called "1 percent."

Grijalva's PDF states the bill "requires people that make over $1 million a year to pay their fair share," which he claims would raise $800 billion.

A post at the Economic Policy Institute says that to pay for this act, tax rates on the wealthy would increase to nearly 50 percent:

The job-creation measures in the Act for the 99% could be offset by Rep. Schakowsky’s Fairness in Taxation Act (H.R. 1124), the 10-year savings from which would more than pay for all of the near-term job-creation policies. The Fairness in Taxation Act would create several new tax brackets that would affect only high-income earners making more than $1 million annually. The act would tax those making between $1 million and $10 million at 45 percent; $10 million and $20 million at 46 percent; $20 million and $100 million at 47 percent; $100 million and $1 billion at 48 percent; and those making at or above $1 billion at 49 percent. The bill also would tax capital gains and dividend income as ordinary income for all taxpayers with incomes greater than $1 million. This measure was scored by Citizens for Tax Justice to generate $748.2 billion from 2011–2020.19 Extrapolating that score to apply to the current 10-year fiscal outlook, the measure is expected to generate $872.5 billion from 2012–2021(Fieldhouse 2011b)

The bill, according to Grijalva, would also impose a .03 percent Wall Street speculation tax that targets stocks, partnership interests, notes, bonds, debentures or interests in derivative financial instruments.

Tax loopholes for the oil and gas industry would also be eliminated.  At the same time, the measure would reinstate superfund taxes for hazardous waste cleanup, while drastically reducing Defense spending.

According to a pdf file posted at Firedoglake, U.S. troop levels in Europe would be cut by more than 50 percent, while funding for the V-22 Osprey would be eliminated.

Grijalva writes that "the oil and gas corporations are among the most profitable on Earth; ending tax giveaways and requiring polluters to clean up their mess will raise over $60B."

The bill also increases Social Security taxes on wealthy earners: 

The Arizona Congressman adds:

Social Security by law cannot contribute to the deficit; however people making over $106,800 do not pay taxes on the additional income. To ensure long-term solvency, this requires anyone making over $250,000 to pay the normal social security tax on their upper income.

Additionally, the bill would allow a "public option to operate with private in the health care exchanges," while creating an infrastructure bank he says will "allow private sector partnering with regions, States and localities to create infrastructure projects."

Moreover, the bill requires materials for government contracts be manufactured in the United States.  While that sounds very good, many products - especially electronic components - are currently manufactured overseas for a variety of reasons, including costly government regulations.

A post at Firedoglake notes:

This legislation defines the progressive agenda in a variety of ways, even if it’s not fully comprehensive. And it sounds like the kind of agenda an Occupier could support

The bill, however, is unlikely to pass a GOP House that is adamantly opposed to tax increases and redistribution of wealth.