Taxes

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The undiscussed benefits had Congress and the President allowed the country to go over the "fiscal cliff."

25 Democratic and Independent Senators voted to continue Bush tax cuts for 99.3 percent of households. What did they say when those cuts were enacted?

Though the supporters of Proposition 30 (Prop 30), the California ballot initiative to raise income tax rates on high earners as well as sales taxes across the board, put together a highly successful campaign, some wonder whether the techniques used to sell Prop 30 carry with them the risk of undermining future efforts to bolster government services.

Remapping Debate investigates how advocates for California’s tax-increasing ballot initiative made their case and what lessons the campaign holds for others who seek to bolster government services.

A "Robin Hood" tax, a small fee on stock, bond, and derivative transactions, is likely to be enacted soon by several EU countries, including Germany and France, with the backing of high-profile, center-right political leaders. But in the U.S., support is only just developing. Those favoring a financial transaction (FTT) believe that an FTT would help generate the revenue needed to protect and expand government programs — and to deter what it considers the destabilizing and unproductive role of "high-frequency trading." Thus far, despite the introduction of several bills that would impose an FTT, a majority of national Democrats have stayed silent on the issue.

A recent CBO report on the long-term budget outlook has reheated deficit hysteria. But the points of fiscal stress the CBO highlighted were misleading, its alternative budget scenarios lacked range or nuance, and its treatment of "excess" growth in health care costs cavalier.

Despite the fact that revenues in many states are recovering, budget cuts that were once described as undesirable but unavoidable are being left in place (or even exacerbated) as numerous state legislatures opt to double down on tax cuts.