Letting the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest 3 percent of Americans expire should be a political no-brainer for Democrats, says Robert Reich at Salon. But Republicans, once again, have proved more adept at framing tax policy. Democrats should beat them at their own game by proposing a "People's Tax Cut," and then "let Republicans explain why they’re against it." An excerpt:
Republicans are calling the Democrats' proposal to end the Bush tax cuts on the richest 3 percent a "tax increase," and demagoging that it will hurt the economy and small business. This is baloney, to put it politely...
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And don't stop there. Do tax jujitsu. In addition to ending the Bush tax cut for the rich, put forward another proposal for growing the economy that cuts taxes on lower-income Americans. Democrats should propose eliminating payroll taxes on the first $20,000 of income, and making up the revenue loss by applying payroll taxes to incomes above $250,000.