Senate Democrats are proposing a 5% surtax on annual incomes of more than $1 million dollars to pay for the President’s job creation proposal. The bill, proposed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, has two purposes: to force Republicans who have consistently denounced tax increases of any sort to vote “No” on raising taxes on the rich and to appease some Democrats who have objected to sections of the President’s jobs bill.
Naturally Republicans have come out in full throated fury against the bill. They argue that it is bad economics to raise taxes on “job creators” during this tough economic period.
Senator Reid knows that there is no chance of this bill ever becoming law. It is purely a political move to take a more populist tone and more clearly define the differences between the two parties.
The Democratic Party has obviously given up on reaching any constructive compromise with Republicans. This bill along with the combative change in tone in the President’s stump speeches illustrate that the Democrats are in full campaign mode.
And who can blame them? The Republicans have back handed every olive branch offered by Democrats. Majority Leader Cantor and Speaker Boehner have both chosen to walk out on negotiations rather than seek common ground.
So let the campaign games begin. We can expect these political cat fights to continue for the next fourteen months. That’s good news for political junkies constantly seeking red meat for their daily blogs. That’s bad news for a country saddled with a stalled economy and 16% real unemployment.
Senator Reid’s bill is good politics and a viable solution. But it should have been proposed in 2009. In 2011 it won’t help the country.
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