| I've made the case that Barack Obama both pushing corporate tax cuts and dancing around his promises to raise income taxes on the wealthy are bad moves - bad politically because they project fear/weakness in their willingness to appease - rather than challenge - the worst right-wing frames, and bad because corporate tax cuts and refusal to raise taxes on the wealthy simply aren't sound economic policy (as the last 8 years clearly proved).
So, I'm happily surprised by this Wall Street Journal story:
President-elect Barack Obama and congressional leaders plan to move soon to block the estate tax from disappearing in 2010, suggesting the levy might outlive the "Death Tax Repeal" movement that has tried mightily to kill it.
The Democratic stance on the estate tax contrasts with Mr. Obama's reluctance to press forward with his campaign pledge to raise income-tax rates on top earners, which he worries could have an adverse economic impact during a recession.
Of course, I'd like to see the estate tax, which affects only the top 2 percent of all income earners, moved back to its Clinton-era rates. I'd also like to see income tax rates restored to the Clinton era. Last I checked, despite the claim that tax increases "could have an adverse economic impact during a recession," Bill Clinton raised taxes during an economic crisis and the economy boomed.
But Obama's plan would effectively lower those Clinton-era estate tax rates by raising the income levels it applies to - and the Journal estimates the difference between the Clinton-era rates and the proposed Obama rates will cost the Treasury a whopping $324 billion at a time of already exploding deficits.
That said, Obama and congressional Democrats moving to prevent the full repeal of the estate tax is a tangible step in the populist direction. They could just as easily let it expire, and the move to stop that from happening shows the kind of chutzpah we're going to need in the coming weeks and months.
The hope is that if/when Democrats block the repeal of the estate tax cut, they'll see they can start winning on progressive tax policies in the same way my book The Uprising showed other progressive lawmakers throughout the country are winning on taxes - winning both policy-wise and politically. If/when Democrats take their stand on the estate tax - just as they have been taking strong (and surprisingly successful) stands on Obama's worst tax ideas - they'll likely see that they can pass progressive tax policies and not face political extinction. And maybe - just maybe - that will embolden people like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) to stop merely "urging" Obama to support repealing Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy, and simply use her legislative powers to force him to sign such a repeal.
I can dream every now and again, can't I? |
