Dems: Tax Millionaires

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Posted: October 06, 2011

WASHINGTON - Struggling to deliver the big jobs package proposed by President Obama, Senate Democrats are using the issue to try to force Republican senators to vote on tax increases for millionaires, picking up on a White House theme that the nation's wealthiest Americans aren't paying their fair share.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said yesterday he is changing Obama's jobs package to add a 5 percent tax on income above $1 million, a proposal that is sure to be blocked by Republicans.

The $447 billion package still includes Obama's proposals to cut payroll taxes and provide money for teachers, firefighters, the unemployed and infrastructure. The tax on millionaires is expected to pay for the package, so it wouldn't add to the budget deficit.

Democrats are banking on Republicans to oppose both the higher taxes on million-dollar earners and the president's call for new spending aimed at reducing joblessness, leaving them open to a charge of protecting the wealthy at the expense of the unemployed.

"Republicans will be hard- pressed to explain why they allowed teachers and firefighters to be laid off, rather than have millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

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