(1) shifting the tax burden off of passive income earners and on to people who work for a living
Looks pretty good:
"Restoring Progressivity, Relieving the Working-Family Squeeze, and Reducing Poverty
Wes Clark's Families First Tax Reform is the most sweeping tax reform proposal in years. It will restore progressivity to the tax code, relieve the working-family squeeze, and reduce poverty. Unlike President Bush's policies, which have been highly regressive and have dramatically increased the deficit, Wes Clark's proposal is paid for without raising the deficit by a dime.
Under Wes Clark's Families First Tax Reform, a family of four making up to $50,000 will pay no federal income taxes and all taxpaying families with children making up to $100,000 will get a tax cut. The Families First Tax Reform will shift the tax burden from those who are struggling to get by to those with the most to spare. The entire proposal is offset by closing corporate loopholes and by a 5 percentage point rate increase on income over $1 million a year. The rate increase will only reach the income-over $1 million-of the top 0.1 percent of taxpayers."
http://clark04.com/issues/familiesfirst/(2) driving down wages.
Looks good as well:
"MAKE WORK PAY
Americans should be able to earn a living wage from their jobs. Unfortunately many parents are not able to provide for their children even by working two jobs. Wes Clark will take steps to make sure that work pays:
Increase the Minimum Wage. In order to provide for their children, parents need jobs that pay a livable wage. Wes Clark will raise the minimum wage in steps to $7 per hour by 2007.
Expand the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). To ensure that families are rewarded for their work and that working parents can provide for their children, Wes Clark would expand the Earned Income Tax Credit.
Fight for Equal Pay. Women are often the primary providers for their children, yet too often they earn substantially less than their male counterparts. Wes Clark would take proactive steps to eliminate the pay gap so that women in this country earn 100 cents on the dollar and no one is short-changed because of their gender.
..."
http://clark04.com/issues/poverty/"Put it this way: Suppose that you actually liked a caste society, and you were seeking ways to use your control of the government to further entrench the advantages of the haves against the have-nots. What would you do?
One thing you would definitely do is get rid of the estate tax, so that large fortunes can be passed on to the next generation. More broadly, you would seek to reduce tax rates both on corporate profits and on unearned income such as dividends and capital gains, so that those with large accumulated or inherited wealth could more easily accumulate even more. You'd also try to create tax shelters mainly useful for the rich. And more broadly still, you'd try to reduce tax rates on people with high incomes, shifting the burden to the payroll tax and other revenue sources that bear most heavily on people with lower incomes.
Meanwhile, on the spending side, you'd cut back on healthcare for the poor, on the quality of public education and on state aid for higher education. This would make it more difficult for people with low incomes to climb out of their difficulties and acquire the education essential to upward mobility in the modern economy.
...
Goodbye, Horatio Alger. And goodbye, American Dream."
-Paul Krugman, December 18, 2003
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040105&c=1&s=krugman
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