Yesterday I received a petition from Color of Change that I want to share with you. Representative Jan Schakowsky is sponsoring the Fairness in Taxation Act to recover some of the wealth Republicans have redistributed from poor and middle class Americans to the super-rich and criminal corporations. First, here’s video of Schakowsky explaining the problem and her bill.
And here is the petition itself.
Make millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share!
In a stirring speech last Wednesday, President Obama reminded us of our common values — that as Americans, we believe in shared sacrifice during tough times, and shared prosperity when times are good.
This Tax Day, we’ve seen those values flipped on their head. While America’s millionaires and billionaires pay the lowest tax rate in 80 years, Congress is slashing critical services like food stamps, family planning and foreclosure assistance that keep poor and working folks afloat. It’s immoral and un-American.
It’s past time that we ask the richest Americans to start contributing their fair share. Please join us in supporting Rep. Jan Schakowsky’s Fairness in Taxation Act.
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Below is the text of the petition we’ll send to Congress on your behalf:
Dear Representative [your Rep.’s name],
I’m calling on you to join Rep. J in sponsoring the Fairness in Taxation Act, which would create new top tax rates for those of us fortunate enough to earn millions or billions of dollars each year.
Instead of shared sacrifice during these tough economic times, Congress has passed a federal budget that slashes critical programs that serve and uplift poor and Black communities — even as it preserves tax breaks for the most fortunate among us. In other words, the sacrifice isn’t being shared by the wealthiest among us. Millionaires have an effective tax rate of about 16%, the lowest it’s been in decades.
Rep. Schakowsky’s bill would level the playing field by creating new tax brackets for the richest Americans, starting at a 45% rate for those whose income is $1 million and topping out at a 49% rate for billionaires.
The notion of taxing the wealthy to help meet our fiscal obligations has overwhelming public support — a recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll found that 81% of Americans favor boosting taxes on millionaires and billionaires as a deficit reduction strategy. The same poll found little support for cutting education funding and health care entitlements.
Asking the most prosperous among us to pay their fair share isn’t about punishing the wealthy. It’s about honoring the American value of shared sacrifice during tough times and shared prosperity during good times. I urge you to co-sponsor the Fairness in Taxation Act.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
I signed it, and I strongly encourage you to join me.
20 Responses to “Action Alert: Make the Rich Pay Too!”
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Gladly signed, they must pay their fair share, and make sure they don’t lie…huh..thats a good one…
Welcome Beth! 🙂
Thank you!
Republicans never lie except when their mouths or fingers are moving. 🙁
Hmm. Is someone an Aerosmith fan? 🙂
Nope. I have no idea why my SPAM filter grabbed thie.
(Guuuuuuuh! My first comment didn’t take. Attempt #2.)
Hmmm. Is someone an Aerosmith fan? 🙂
See above.
done!
Thanks Patty!
Following orders. ; )
Whatever comment I can think of will get me in trouble. 🙄
Yesterday, I saw a county worker surveying the houses in my 55+ park. I stopped to ask what he was doing, and we got to chatting.
Despite the fact that he’s a union member, despite the fact that he’s middle-class, despite the fact that he likes our representative Peter Defazio, he is convinced that tax breaks for the rich will create jobs.
I told him otherwise. Flat wages for the middle class, tax breaks during Bush era lost jobs, outsourcing jobs overseas, etc. But he still was willing to believe that big fat lie.
Very sad and worrisome.
Marva, the more I encounter this syndrome, the more I wonder if there isn’t actually something to that brain study I posted a while back. Lefty brains process complexity in decisions. Righty brains process fear.
THANKS TOM SIGNED
Welcome Martin! 🙂
Thank you, Sir!
I Definitely Think The Wealthy Should Be Made To Pay Their Fair Share Of Taxes! Why Should They Be Any Different Than Any Other Person?
Welcome Ms. Carmel! 🙂
They should not, but some consider themselves above such things as taxes, ethics, laws. etc.
Thanks, Tom!
Welcome Betty! 🙂
I recognize that face. 😀
Thank you!
Hey Tom. I’m with you & all our good friends on this. We have to make the rich elite pay for what they’ve done to our country & the hardships they are causing everyone. I am boycotting as many products that I can do without, that are made by Kochsucker industries, like brawny paper towels and angel soft toilet paper, ect…. I’m still trying to figure out what all their products are, but I’m looking at who makes the products that I find, before I buy it & if it says Koch industries, or some other company that’s involved in any way, then it sure isn’t going home with me & if it’s made in china I’ll try to do without it. I’ll buy things that are made by the smaller industries in the USA, that actually care about our people and our country. I have been keeping busy finding a lot of articles & directing all of my email contacts to find out the real truth for themselves, about how the rich are screwing the people of our great nation and that the rich have to be held accountable. What we need to all be doing is, if all of our friends locate articles on sites such as yours, care2’s & all the others & find petitions to sign & email the URL’s of the articles & petitions to all their friends to hopefully get them to read & sign too. Then all the things we all find & inform others about is what will really get, We The People fighting back and winning back our country. We can all do our part in this battle against these bible thumping facists, these people are just using Gods name in vain. If they really believed in God, our country wouldn’t be in the mess it’s in now. I believe in God & help others with what they need in life, just as I also would want to be helped in my life. Please get the word out, for people to direct each other to the truth, for the truth shall keep us all free. God Bless America & may he protect us all from this evil, that has arrived on our doorsteps. Thanks, Scott
Hiya Scott. I am also boycotting Koch products and try to buy blue whenever possible. A good place to look is companies that have withdrawn from the US Chamber.. I send a daily link to my articles to my friends on Care2 and agree that we need to netrwork and work together to remove the Republican corporate stain from our nation.