SuperCommittee: GOP wants rich to pay less towards deficit reduction

A potential breakthrough occurred in a meeting in the Capitol late on the night of Nov. 7, when Republicans, led by [Pat] Toomey, offered a $1.2 trillion package that included $300 billion of new tax revenue. It was the first time Republicans had shown themselves open to significant amounts of new taxes.

But as Democrats studied the proposal, they found much to criticize. The proposal would have permanently reduced tax rates for all taxpayers, and Democrats objected, in particular, to lowering the rates paid by the most affluent Americans.

This is when the patient seemed to take a turn for the worse.

In the eyes of Republicans, when Democrats rejected the Toomey plan, saying it would provide a windfall for millionaires and billionaires, little more could be accomplished.

And this is only half the story. The GOP plan offered by Toomey would have exchanged increased revenues through the closing of loopholes and deductions in exchange for tax reform that would have cut all tax rates, but would have locked down the tax rate for top earners at 28 percent. This is the “concession” the GOP offered.

But in truth, what the GOP proposal would have really meant is that that the wealthy would pay less in taxes towards deficit reduction than they would if we just did nothing, i.e., let the Bush tax cuts expire, as stipulated by current law. As the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities explained, this not only would have taken further tax increases on the wealthy completely off the table in future deficit reduction talks; the cutting of tax rates across the board would also have disproportionately benefitted the wealthy.

Read the whole article in the Washington Post.