The Center for American Progress (CAP) came out with a tax plan. And it’s a pretty darn good one! It’s actually fairly close to a plan I’d support. It raises the top bracket to Clinton-era levels, it caps deductions, it increases the capital gains tax and the tax on dividends, it gets rid of the AMT, and it taxes cigarettes, alcohol, and newly-legalized internet gambling (something I would dearly like to be able to do). This is exactly the kind of tax reform that Obama should support.
So what’s wrong with it? David Frum actually has a very good insight into what the tax battle is on the Republican side today: it’s about the merely rich versus the super-rich. The merely rich would have higher taxes under the CAP plan, ‘tis true, but the super rich would have much higher taxes. The super-rich seem willing to toss those below them beneath the wheels of the bus to save their own skins, which is not altogether surprising.
I have little faith that this tax plan will be implemented, but this would be a great starting point for Democrats in Congress.