[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4677]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      THE FAIRNESS IN TAXATION ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address a grave threat 
to both our economy and our democracy, and that is the disappearing 
middle class.
  Over the last 30 years, there has been a dramatic and deliberate 
transfer of wealth from the middle class to the very, very, very rich. 
Income inequality is now at the highest level since 1928. Wages have 
stagnated for middle and working class families despite enormous gains 
in productivity. Where has the money gone?
  This chart shows the change in the average pre-tax household income 
from 1979 to 2005. The bottom 20 percent--that's that number way down 
in the corner--of households saw their incomes over those 30 years grow 
just $200. Over the same period, the top 0.1 percent saw income growth 
of nearly $6 million each year. The top 100th of 1 percent now makes an 
average of $27 million per household per year. The average income for 
the bottom 90 percent of Americans: $31,244.
  Meanwhile, Republicans, who squandered a budget surplus, created a 
huge deficit with unpaid-for tax cuts that went mainly to the very 
rich, and whose policies allowed Wall Street recklessness to bring our 
economy to near collapse, are now demanding that the middle class foot 
the bill. Their solution to our fiscal mess is to gut vital programs 
like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and to make cuts in 
domestic spending that would cause an additional 700,000 middle class 
Americans to lose their jobs.
  In the next chart, you can see some of the enormous cuts that they 
are proposing: $1.3 billion from community health centers, the only 
source of medical care for many families; $5.7 billion from Pell 
grants, reducing the size of the grant for 9.4 million students who 
want to go to college; and $1 billion in funding for high-speed rail, 
important infrastructure projects that will create good jobs--thousands 
and thousands of good jobs.
  Once again, they are showing their utter disregard for the shrinking 
middle class and those who aspire to it by cutting important jobs 
programs and assistance programs for poor families.
  Part two of the Republican program for addressing our economic 
problem, and every other problem, is to cut taxes even more for the 
rich. Enough is enough. It's time for millionaires and billionaires to 
pay their fair share. This isn't about punishment and it isn't about 
revenge. It is about fairness.
  Currently, the top tax bracket starts at $375,000, failing to 
distinguish between the well-off and billionaires. I have introduced 
the Fairness in Taxation Act, which would create new tax brackets 
beginning at 45 percent for income over $1 million, rising to 49 
percent for income of $1 billion a year or more; and, yes, there are 
people in our country who made $1 billion or more just last year. 
Historically, these rates are relatively modest. During most of the 
Reagan administration, the top tax rate was 50 percent; and in previous 
decades, the top tax rate was as high as 94 percent.
  My bill would also address a fundamental inequality in our current 
law by taxing capital gains and dividends at ordinary income rates in 
those brackets. Rich hedge fund managers should not be paying a lower 
tax rate than their secretaries because much of the income of the hedge 
fund manager is capital gains and dividends.
  According to Citizens for Tax Justice, the Fairness in Taxation Act 
will raise more than $78.9 billion if enacted in 2011, allowing us to 
avoid the harsh cuts that will hurt the middle class. This is an idea 
that Americans support. In a recent poll, 81 percent of respondents 
supported placing a surtax on Federal income for those who make more 
than $1 million per year in order to reduce the deficit.
  Passing the Fairness in Taxation Act will allow us to stop the war on 
the middle class, restore fiscal integrity and fairness, and fund 
initiatives that reflect our American values and goals.

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