David Stockman was the director of the Office of Management and Budget in the White House from 1981-1985. In July, Mr. Stockman wrote a scathing op-ed harshly criticizing the current Republican Party and its policies based on false hopes. Here is more about Mr. Stockman and his positions regarding the budget deficit.
Mr. Stockman is advocating for the expiration of the Bush tax cuts to help plug the massive budget deficit. He also wants to cut military spending, farm subsidies, health care spending, Medicare, Social Security and almost every federal spending program.
There's a lot of truth to what he has written and spoken. I completely agree with him that the Republican obsession with tax cuts is "rank demagoguery." Mr. Stockman is also correct when he says that it is "delusional" for both the Democrats and the Republicans to promise the size of the government that we have without the simultaneously calling for the appropriate taxes to pay for the government that Americans demand.
(click here if the above video does not work correctly)
Mr. Stockman has a very interesting proposal in the 60 minutes video above this paragraph. He proposes a one-time 15% surtax on the wealthiest Americans. Why? Because in 1985 the wealthiest 5% of American households had $8 trillion of net wealth. Today, the wealthiest 5% of American households have a net worth of $40 trillion. According to Mr. Stockman, the wealthiest 5% of American households have created more wealth in the last 25 years than the entire human race had created before 1980.
That proposal, we all know, has a tiny chance of passing. A 15% one time surtax on the wealthiest 5% of American households would never happen. But, as Mr. Stockman argues, it would cut the national debt in half.
With income inequality in our country at an all-time high and continuing to become even more unequal (see here, here and here), don't think that idea is completely dead in the water.
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