Emergency Deficit Reduction Act

At a time when our Nation has a $14.2 trillion national debt and a $1.6 trillion annual deficit, moving aggressively toward deficit reduction means that we must include not only well-targeted budget cuts, but revenue raised in a fair and economically just way. Questions every Member of Congress should be asking are the following:

At a time when the wealthiest people in this country are doing phenomenally well, when the effective Federal tax rates for the richest Americans are the lowest on record, and when the top 2 percent of taxpayers have received hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks in recent years, it would be morally wrong for the United States Congress to move towards a balanced budget on the backs of the middle class, the elderly, the sick, and the most vulnerable people in our society while asking nothing of the highest income earners and most profitable corporations.

Creating an emergency deficit reduction surtax on income over $1 million will reduce the deficit in a fair and economically just way by increasing revenue from those who can afford it the most.

From 2000 to 2010, the 5 largest oil companies in the United States made nearly $1 trillion in profits, yet some of them paid nothing in Federal income taxes in recent years. Ending outdated and unnecessary tax credits, deductions, and subsidies for big oil companies is a fair and economically just way to raise revenue and reduce the deficit.

In the midst of the worst recession since the Great Depression, America's middle class and working families have already paid a very heavy price in terms of lost jobs, lost homes, lost wages, and lost opportunity. The time has come to ask the wealthiest in our society and the most profitable corporations in America to help our Nation address its deficit crisis. Any deficit reduction package must include raising revenue from the wealthy and eliminating tax breaks for big oil companies.