Take Back the Center
Progressive Taxation for a New Progressive Agenda
Peter S. Wenz
- Reality-based
- arguments
- against
- right-wing
- fantasies:
- the
- case
- for
- reducing
- income
- inequality,
- rebuilding
- our
- infrastructure,
- investing
- in
- education,
- and
- putting
- people
- back
- to
- work.Midcentury
- America
- was
- governed
- from
- the
- center,
- a
- bipartisan
- consensus
- of
- politicians
- and
- public
- opinion
- that
- supported
- government
- spending
- on
- education,
- the
- construction
- of
- a
- vast
- network
- of
- interstate
- highways,
- healthcare
- for
- senior
- citizens,
- and
- environmental
- protection.
- These
- projects
- were
- paid
- for
- by
- a
- steeply
- progressive
- tax
- code,
- with
- a
- top
- tax
- rate
- at
- one
- point
- during
- the
- Republican
- Eisenhower
- administration
- of
- 91
- percent.
- Today,
- a
- similar
- agenda
- of
- government
- action
- (and
- progressive
- taxation)
- would
- be
- portrayed
- as
- dangerously
- left
- wing.
- At
- the
- same
- time,
- radically
- anti-government
- and
- anti-tax
- opinions
- (with
- no
- evidence
- to
- support
- them)
- are
- considered
- part
- of
- the
- mainstream.
- In
- Take
- Back
- the
- Center,
- Peter
- Wenz
- makes
- the
- case
- for
- a
- sane,
- reality-based
- politics
- that
- reclaims
- the
- center
- for
- progressive
- policies.
- The
- key,
- he
- argues,
- is
- taxing
- the
- wealthy
- at
- higher
- rates.
- The
- tax
- rate
- for
- the
- wealthiest
- Americans
- has
- declined
- from
- the
- mid-twentieth-century
- high
- of
- 91
- percent
- to
- a
- twenty-first-century
- low
- of
- 36
- percent—even
- as
- social
- programs
- are
- gutted
- and
- the
- gap
- betweeen
- rich
- and
- poor
- widens
- dramatically.Ever
- since
- Ronald
- Reagan
- famously
- declared
- that
- government
- was
- the
- problem
- and
- not
- the
- solution,
- conservatives
- have
- had
- an
- all-purpose
- answer
- to
- any
- question:
- smaller
- government
- and
- lower
- taxes.
- Wenz
- offers
- an
- impassioned
- counterargument.
- He
- explains
- the
- justice
- of
- raising
- the
- top
- tax
- rates
- significantly,
- making
- a
- case
- for
- less
- income
- inequality
- (and
- countering
- society's
- worship
- of
- the
- wealthy),
- and
- he
- offers
- suggestions
- for
- how
- to
- spend
- the
- increased
- tax
- revenues:
- K-12
- education,
- tuition
- relief,
- transportation
- and
- energy
- infrastructure,
- and
- universal
- health
- care.
- Armed
- with
- Wenz's
- evidence-driven
- arguments,
- progressives
- can
- position
- themselves
- where
- they
- belong:
- in
- the
- mainstream
- of
- American
- politics
- and
- at
- the
- center
- of
- American
- political
- conversations,
- helping
- their
- country
- address
- a
- precipitous
- decline
- in
- equality
- and
- quality
- of life.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
