Higher Taxes on Wealthy Unite Democrats
Even with signs of an economic recovery feeding optimism about President Obama’s reelection chances, congressional Democrats continue to run highly individual reelection campaigns independent of the president’s record and agenda.
Except on the issue of higher taxes for the wealthy, where they appear solidly unified across the political spectrum.
After many months of fighting over tax and debt negotiations with Republicans in 2011, President Obama and Democratic allies in Congress have found common ground on an “economic fairness” agenda that has emerged as the single, most unifying Democratic idea of the election season. In its simplest form, it says millionaires should pay more taxes.
In a tight Wisconsin Senate race, the likely Democratic nominee is sponsoring legislation to impose a mandatory minimum tax of at least 30 percent on millionaires. In a newly drawn House district near Canton, Democratic Rep. Betty Sutton (D-Ohio) has taken to calling her wealthy businessman opponent a “tax evader millionaire.”
And in Massachusetts, Democrat Elizabeth Warren’s latest volley against the wealthy came over the weekend as she called for the resignation of JPMorgan’s CEO, Jamie Dimon, after revelations that its risky investments just cost the financial firm more than $2 billion.