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Middle Wisconsin News

www.MiddleWisconsin.com September 4, 2012
IN THIS ISSUE:
SEPTEMBER 2012
September . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Morally Indefensible . . . . . . . 2 Economic Disaster . . . . . . . . 3 Working Wisconsin . . . .. . . 4 Moving Forward . . . . . . . . . . 5 American Health . . . . . . . . . 6 American Education . . . . . . . 7 Postal Service . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Tax Pledge Cult . . . . . . . . . . 9 Around Wisconsin. . . . . . . . 10 Day of Peace . . . . . . . . . . 11 The Only Issue . . . . . . . . . . 13 Spaceship Earth . . . . . . . . . 14 Wealth and Money . . . . . . . 15 Challenging the Myth . . . . . .18 Budget For All . . . . . . . . . . . 19
It is September in Wisconsin and fall is in the air. The early Maples have begun showing their reds and yellows, the soybeans and field corn are nearing harvest, and the squash is mature on the vine. It has been an unusually hot and dry summer in much of Wisconsin, but September approaches perfection. We live in a beautiful state. But we are only too aware that not all is perfect in Wisconsin. Like the rest of America, we are bracing ourselves for the upcoming elections. We are bracing ourselves because we know how moneyed interests have replaced so much of our democracy and we are worried about where the next four years will lead. Will we survive as a people - as a community that believes in fairness and respect for everyone, or will we allow ourselves to be dragged down the ugly, destructive path of you or me, every man for himself? It seems, once again, to be the ancient battle of good against evil - of the best of human nature against the worst - of goodness and decency against greed and ruthless self-centeredness. We turn to the quiet strength of Gandhi and the peaceful vision of Martin Luther King. Courageous nuns - our good sisters on a bus - give us hope. As always, there is much insight and wisdom from our authors in the newsletter this month. It is the work of caring citizens. We urge you to also read the recently revised 2013 edition of the Progressive Caucus Budget (The Budget For All) at the end of the newsletter. It is the work of caring statesmen and it stands in stark contrast to the gross inequities in the Ryan budget. And as John Spiegelhoff tells us in his article this month, let us Keep Calm and Carry On.
Middle Wisconsin News welcomes letters, articles and essays on relevant topics. We ask that you limit submissions to 800 words and provide sources when appropriate. Submissions may be edited for length, clarity and taste. Emailed submissions should be sent in plain text or Microsoft Word attachments to: dave@middlewisconsin.org
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Middle Wisconsin News Information Technology Solutions

Morally Indefensible
By Joyce Leudke - Hayward
September 4, 2012 Page 2
Don't mistake me, I

clearly see that Ryan has a whole lotta "rage" in him: A rage against women, a rage against immigrants, a rage against workers, a rage against gays, a rage against the poor, a rage against the environment. Basically the only thing he's not raging against is the privileged elite he's groveling in front of for campaign contributions. You see, the super rich must rationalize having more than they could ever spend while millions of children in the U.S. go to bed hungry every night. So, when they look themselves in the mirror, they convince themselves that "Those people are undeserving. They're . . . lesser." Some of these guys on the extreme right are more cynical than Paul Ryan, but he seems to really believe in this stuff. This unbridled rage against those who have the least is a cornerstone of the Romney-Ryan ticket. - - Tom Morello Rage
The House budget is a moral sin and it is unpatriotic and we will not rest until politicians like Paul Ryan set it aside, stated Sister Simone Campbell of the Network, a Catholic social justice organization. Several other groups have been speaking out about the Ryan Budget, written by Republican Paul Ryan of Janesville. While the Ryan Budget was being discussed in the House of Representatives earlier this year, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops criticized the budget for cutting food stamps and other assistance programs for the poor. The bishops said the budget fails to meet certain moral criteria by disproportionately cutting programs that serve the poor and vulnerable people. Some 60 Catholic social justice leaders released this statement: This budget is morally indefensible and betrays Catholic principles of solidarity, just taxation, and a commitment to the common good. A budget that turns its back on the hungry, the elderly, and the sick while giving more tax breaks to the wealthiest few cant be justified in Christian terms. Robert Greenstein, President of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released an analysis in March 2012 that found the Ryan budget would likely produce the largest redistribution of income from the bottom to the top in modern U. S. history and likely increase poverty and inequality more than any other budget proposed in recent times (and possibly in the nations history). A version of the Ryan budget was passed by the House of Representatives (HR #8) in July, 2012, with all Republicans voting yes, including Congressman Sean Duffy. On August 1, 2012, after the House budget was passed, Pastor Jim Wallis of Sojourners had this to say: A budget is a moral document. In effect, to roll back tax credits for the poor to help fund tax breaks for the rich is morally reprehensible, and the faith community needs to speak out. Proven and effective tax credits which can lift families out of poverty, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit are being drastically reduced. All the while, tax cuts for the wealthy are further expanded and the amount of money the richest can keep from their estate taxes continues to grow. This is an egregious contrast and a starkly immoral budget choice. To reward the rich even more while actually punishing the poor is a direct offense to all religious traditions. Some highlights of HR#8: **A $160,000 tax break on average to someone who makes more than a million dollars a year. **$5.3 trillion spending cuts for the have-nots. **$4.3 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthy Ryan is on record saying: Im not concerned about the very poor. If we have a debt crisis, then the people who hurt the first and the worst are the poor and elderly. I am a person of faith and I am speaking out. The budget just passed by the House is immoral.
Sources: Belief Blog, Sojourners, Washington Post, Faith in Public Life, and MSNBC.
Economic Disaster
By Jeanne Larson - Phillips
We reveal our childishness, our belief that if we are happy, if we are entertained and feel good, then the rest of the world will take care of itself. Others should find a way to feel good with us. We abandon our mentally ill to sleep on city heating grates, leave children in urban ghettos functionally illiterate, scuttle our public transportation system, deny 50 million of our citizens health insurance and scrap controls on coalburning power plants that poison the air and water supply. We fail to examine what is done in our name in countries such as Iraq and Nigeria. We go along with the flow, deadened to the pain of others, seeking our own emotional transcendence. The world will take care of itself.
--Chris Hedges, Losing Moses on the Freeway,
Robert Reich, former Labor Secretary, economist and professor, has several videos on YouTube explaining the US economy. Although Romney hasnt yet shared details of his economic plan, Romney has called VP nominee Paul Ryans plan bold and exciting, excellent, and marvelous, but Reich reaches these very different conclusions in his video analysis of the Ryan/Romney Plan (R/RP), Five Reasons Why the Ryan/Romney Economic Plan Would Be a Disaster for America: 1. The R/RP will increase unemployment because it slashes public spending in 2013-2014 when the economy still needs a boost. The Economic Policy Institute estimates the R/RP will result in the loss of 1.3 million jobs in 2013 and 2.8 million jobs in 2014. 2. The R/RP will take from lower-income Americans and give to the rich, who already have the biggest share of Americas wealth and income in almost a century. Taxes will be raised on folks making $30,000-$40,000 by about $500/ year. Medicaid, Food Stamps and childrens health programs will be slashed. This saved money will be used to reduce taxes on the wealthy by an average of over $500,000/year. 3. The R/RP will turn Medicare into vouchers that wont keep up with the rising cost of health care, shifting the burden onto seniors, ending guaranteed health coverage, leaving them at the mercy of insurance companies. By contrast, Obamas Affordable Care Act saves money in the Medicare program by reducing what is paid to insurance companies, drug companies and hospitals. 4. The R/RP will add to defense spending while making cuts to research and development, education and infrastructure. America already spends more on defense than the next five biggest military spenders combined. 5. The R/RP doesnt reduce the Federal budget deficit for decades. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities estimates the R/RP will push public debt to over 175 percent of Gross Domestic Product by 2050. Ask Mr. Reich questions about the economy at reddit.com. Ask nationalpriorities.org to fact-check candidates claims and answer questions about the Federal budget and taxes.
Working Wisconsin - Labor News and Views

Keep Calm and Carry On
By John Spiegelhoff - Merrill, WI
Ive studied, admired and gotten to know a lot of leaders in my life. Across Florida, in Washington and around the country, I've watched the failure of those who favor extreme rhetoric over sensible compromise, and I've seen how those who never lose sight of solutions sow the greatest successes. As America prepares to pick our president for the next four years and as Florida prepares once again to play a decisive role I'm confident that President Barack Obama is the right leader for our state and the nation.
- Charlie Crist Former Republican Governor of Florida
Keep Calm and Carry On was a poster produced by the Government of the United Kingdom in 1939 during the beginning of the Second World War, intended to raise the morale of the British public in the event of invasion. It had only limited distribution, so was little known. (Source Wikipedia). Over fifty years ago, Great Britain entered the war against Nazi Germany. One can only suspect that the British were scared and apprehensive about what would happen in the upcoming years. The powers against them seemed insurmountable. How would the British keep up morale and not turn into a country of defeatists and succumb to fear? Fast forward to 2011 where Governor Walker, his billionaire financiers and lock step lackeys in the legislature turned a proud progressive state into a playground for corporations and the wealthy at the expense of working people. Worker exploitation, voter suppression, environmental rollbacks, political cronyism and corporate favoritism infiltrate the state at every level. A blitzkrieg in every sense of the word. It is simply overwhelming at times. We wish we could close our eyes and believe that it was just a bad dream. This unholy assault is not new to our Nation. The Guilded Age at the turn of the century with Robber Barons such Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan, Carnegie and Gould at the helm amassed huge sums of wealth by exploiting workers. However, we are two generations removed from the turn of the century Robber Barons, we forgot our history and now we are doomed to repeat it. Now is the time to not despair. In your everyday life, do something each day to fight back. Write a letter to the editor, join a Union, join a progressive group and most importantly, talk to your friends and family about what is at stake. When we become despondent and silent we give our power away. Our democracy depends on you to turn back this assault on our freedoms. KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON.
Moving Forward
By Phillip Anderson - Iron River
This world of ours... must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.
- Dwight Eisenhower
I think progressives are missing one lesson from the Walker victory. I think this indicates that we are not a majority. We don't have the support of the general public. Progressives probably never were a majority, but a majority of the general public supported most of the progressive agenda (women's rights, civil rights, Social Security, etc.). I think we have to assume that this is no longer the case. The majority of the population has accepted the Republican propaganda on taxes, big government, and social issues. Therefore just "getting out the vote" in the hope that more voters will mean more Democratic votes is no longer a good strategy. I think we have to seriously begin seeking converts. Preaching to the choir is no longer enough. How do we do this when the general public is "pridefully ignorant, doesn't pay attention, and doesn't read? I don't know. But I think we need to rethink our methods. We don't have the money to compete on TV or with Fox News. Probably we need to develop much more one-on-one outreach - individuals reaching their circle of friends, relatives, and co-workers much like religious proselytizing. In the past Dems were big when we had ward bosses and politics (at least in the big "machine" run cities) was personal and had benefits. You got your job, or apartment, or status from a connection with the boss. We can't go back to that corruption but there was a personal connection there. Currently the Republicans have been masterful at getting church support. Dems used to have a platform in more liberal churches. Churches, especially the growing conservative mega-churches, have a large social function. They have many age stratified groups, run daycares, schools, operate gyms, etc. Again, personal connections. Unions used to have some of this but have largely become impersonal third party negotiators. How we accomplish this in our over stimulated world I do not know, but we have to start by recognizing that we need something new.
American Health
Contraception and Campaign Contradictions
By Lon Newman Wausau, WI
I do not believe that just because you're opposed to abortion, that that makes you prolife. In fact, I think in many cases, your morality is deeply lacking if all you want is a child born but not a child fed, not a child educated, not a child housed. And why would I think that you don't? Because you don't want any tax money to go there. That's not pro-life. That's pro-birth. We need a much broader conversation on what the morality of pro-life is.
- Sister Joan Chittister Benedictine Nun
A frightened teen mom in Milwaukee called the emergency contraception (EC) hotline. She had been raped in a snow bank on her way home from the convenience store where she had picked up milk for her toddler. It was such a struggle for her to take care of the child she already had, that what she most wanted was to prevent a pregnancy. She got the emergency contraception she needed with help from Wisconsins Medicaid Family Planning Program. She was grateful and very much relieved. Realities like this teen moms often contradict our most cherished beliefs. Much of the time, rather than challenging our prior convictions, we hold on to them even more strongly. Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan have repeatedly expressed their conviction that EC and many other forms of contraception are wrong, but responding to the embarrassingly inaccurate and insupportable remarks by Missouri U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin that nature in some mysterious way prevents pregnancy from forcible rape, the Romney/Ryan campaign spokesperson issued a statement that the campaign supports abortion rights for rape victims. Perhaps reality has contradicted their beliefs and they will adjust other positions to the revelation -- perhaps not. It is clearly inconsistent to support abortion rights for rape victims while opposing EC for the same women. Even the Conference of Catholic Bishops Health Care Directives allow for EC for rape victims (#36). The most common form of EC (The Morning After Pill) does not cause an abortion and theres no evidence it prevents pregnancy after fertilization. It seems that everyone would agree it is better to prevent a pregnancy than to abort one. For Republican candidates to force Todd Akin out of the U.S. Senate race with a presidential campaign statement of support for abortion rights for certain types of rape victims doesnt begin to address fundamental contradictions between anti-contraception policy positions and medical science or between the partys anti-abortion dogma and the realities of a teen mom raped on her way home from the Kwick Stop Store.
Lon Newman, of Wausau, is executive director, Family Planning Health Services Inc.; public affairs chair, Wisconsin Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association and president, Wisconsin Reproductive Health Network.
Middle Wisconsin News American Education
NEW SMARTER BALANCED ASSESSMENTS ARE COMING

By Virginia Kirsch - Wausau
Weve bought into the idea that education is about training and success, defined monetarily, rather than learning to think critically and to challenge. We should not forget that the true purpose of education is to make minds, not careers. A culture that does not grasp the vital interplay between morality and power, which mistakes management techniques for wisdom, which fails to understand that the measure of a civilization is its compassion, not its speed or ability to consume, condemns itself to death.
Chris Hedges, Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle
More than one-third of all students entering college in the USA today need some kind of remedial education. This comes after ten years of No-Child-Left-Behind. It is good news that NCLB is quietly expiring in many states and new assessments are coming. It is clear that educators, parents and students need a better assessment tool, something that can assist students to prepare for college and career. I am happy to note that Wisconsin is one of 24 states already a member of Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium. Smarter Balanced is funded by the US Department of Education through Race to the Top Assessment Program and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The states role is fiscal agent. SMARTER BALANCED is aligned with CCSS, Common Core State Standards which were developed for English Language Arts and Math. The Standards tell what a student is expected to learn in Math and Language Arts. Now Smarter Balanced has developed the tests to measure the Common Core Standards. The test-developing group includes educators, researchers, policymakers as well as community groups. The group is funded by grants from the US Department of Education. The group developed a valid, reliable and fair system of 21-century testing for math and language arts. Pilot testing of SBAC will be done in 2013. The Smarter Balanced will be implemented in 2014-2015 school year. The tests go beyond multiple-choice with paper and pencil. These tests are done on the computer, corrected by computers with results available in a short time. This gives educators, parents and students useful feedback in time to make changes in instruction and learning, if needed. However, there are limits to any assessment. This test cannot measure a persons study habits or perseverance. SMARTER BALANCED will assess analytical skills and real-world problem-solving as well as communication skills. A retake is possible. An assessment for science is in the future. Each student can show what he knows. Computer adaptive testing adjusts to a students ability by basing difficulty of future questions on previous answers, providing more accurate measurement of student achievementparticularly for high and low-performing students. (from SmarterBalanced website) Testing will be done at the end of grade 3, 8 and 11. It will be done online to provide faster results. As a retired teacher, I lived through many reforms in education. I hope that this assessment program will be shared by more states and will make an impact in how students are taught. Our world cries out for people with thinking skills and communication skills. For more information, check out these sources: smarterbalanced.org and Corestandards.org
To be continued . . .
US Postal Service - The Rest of the Story

By Jeanne Larson - Phillips
The government created the United States Postal Service (USPS) to provide mail service to everyone in our country at a reasonable price, no matter where they live, realizing how essential this function is to our democratic society.
America is broke, they say. But this is a dangerous lie. It freezes people into thinking there is no solution.when there is.
--Van Jones, founder of Rebuild the Dream
Recent media stories depict the USPS as an outdated, bloated system that loses billions of taxpayer dollars. The solutions they propose? Cut jobs, close rural post offices, slash service, open the way to privatize the system. Certainly the USPS needs updating for the 21st century, but further information suggests the current news story is a manufactured crisis. According to an 8-10-2012 story run by FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting), mainstream media leaves out this part of the story: Congress passed the Postal Accountability Enhancement Act in 2006 which required the USPS to fully prefund health benefits for future retirees for the next 75 years, and to do it within 10 years. Every September the USPS is mandated to pay the Treasury about $5.5 billion to fully prefund health benefits for people who arent even born yet. Also, according to two independent studies, the USPS has overpaid $50 to $75 billion into their pension fund. In 2008 a loss of $2.8 billion was reported, but that year the USPS paid $5.6 billion to the health benefit fund. But for the mandate, the USPS would have been in the black. Bob Sloan spent several months investigating the background of the 2006 legislation and the subsequent attacks on the USPS, and reveals his findings in a thoughtful and thorough Op-ed at the Voters Legislative Transparency Project web site, vltp.net. The money/lobby/influence trail he followed led tono surprise herethe American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the Koch Brothers. Representative Stephen Lynch (D-MA) has introduced HR 1351 to apply overpayment money to the obligation for future health benefits to get the USPS out of this congressionally-contrived crisis. If you value the service of the USPS, contact Representative Duffy and Senators Kohl and Johnson to urge them to support this bill.

The Grover Norquist
Tax Pledge Cult
When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living in society, they create for themselves, in the course of time, a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.
- - Frederic Bastiat, French writer and economist, 1850
I Pledge Allegiance To The Flag Of The Wall Street Lords Of America And To The Predator Class For Which They Stand. Subjugated Masses Under domination, With Liberty and Justice For The Fit.
August 2012 Featured Cult Members

Missionaries For The Lords Of Wall Street
These are the men and women who have placed allegiance to an ideology above their allegiance to the people of America - who have placed ideology above truth and intelligence. No matter how it harms America, these individuals refuse to ask the very rich and corporations to pay their fair share. Indeed, it is the goal of the Supreme Leader of this Cult, Grover Norquist, to destroy our government or, as he phrased it, To drown it in a bathtub. This is the respect these men and women have for the hope of humanity - for America - once the shining light of democracy. Drown it in a bathtub.
Tommy Thompson (R - Wisconsin)
For a complete list of Tax Pledge Cult Members see:

http://s3.amazonaws.com/ atrfiles/files/files/072911federalpledgesigners.pdf U.S. Representative Michelle Bachmann (R - Minnesota)
U.S. Congressman John Boehner (R - Ohio)

Around Wisconsin
Womens Caucus Monday, September 10 4:00 p.m. Vino Latte, Wausau For more information email:
nstencil@charter.net
FightingBobFest September 15th, 2012 Coliseum at Alliant Energy Center Madison, WI International Day Of Peace - Push4Peace Saturday September 22, 2012 From 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Pot Luck Lunch at Noon At Ojibwa Park on Highway 70 between Ojibwa and Winter See Page 11 for details We Are Wisconsin Inaugural Leadership Summit Saturday, September 22 (9am-6pm) and Sunday, September 23 (9am-3pm) Monona Terrace 1 John Nolen Drive Madison, WI 53703 RSVP for the We Are Wisconsin Leadership Summit
Please let us know if you would like to have Middle Wisconsin News publish upcoming events. Contact: dave@middlewisconsin.org
International Day of Peace Push4Peace

Saturday September 22, 2012 From 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Pot-luck lunch at noon At the Ojibwa park on Highway 70 between Ojibwa and Winter
Sponsored by The Democratic Party of Sawyer County and The Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation, The Democratic Party of Rusk County and the Democratic 7th Congressional District of Wisconsin
9:45 a.m.
LCO Drummers and Pipestone Singers
10:15 a.m. Opening Blessing by *Dennis White, LCO Ojibwa Elder Welcome and Words of Wisdom by *Rusty Barber and *Mic Isham, LCO Tribal Board Members 10:30 a.m. History and significance of the Ojibwa Park by Jacquie Cadotte and Gayle Johnson Announcement of silent auction items *Music by Dennis and Cleo White Invited Speakers for the 11:00 morning session: *State Representative Janet Bewley *State Senator Bob Jauch *Pat Kreitlow, 7th Congressional District Candidate for U. S. Congress U. S. Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, Candidate for U.S. Senate State Senator Kathleen Vinehout *Paul Knuth, Democratic Party 7thCongressional District Chair 12:00 noon pot-luck lunch 7thCongressional District Executive Committee Meeting
Continued on page 12
International Day of Peace Push4Peace Continued . . .

Invited speakers for the 1:00 afternoon session: Elizabeth Riley, Candidate for the 87thAssembly District *Kaleen Ringberg, Northwest Wisconsin Campaign Coordinator Dave Obey, past Congressman from the 7thCongressional District *Dane Varece of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign *Nate Timm, Grassroots Wisconsin *Sara LittleRedfeather Kalmonson, Native GOTV Mike Wiggins Frank Koehn Jeff Peterson John Greendeer Winona LaDuke *Matt Dannenberg, WI League of Conservation Voters *Al Manson, Rusk County Democratic Party Chair Summation and concluding statements by Paul DeMain Co-chair of the Democratic Party of Sawyer County and the Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation
Vendor Information booths are Welcomebring own table and chairs * indicates confirmed as of 8/18/12
The Only Issue

By Mike McCabe When everything is important to do, nothing that really matters gets done. That is the essence of what Thoreau expressed so much more eloquently: "There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root." If you care to admit how deep our country's problems run and if you care a whit about the future we bequeath to our children and grandchildren, Lawrence Lessig's book Republic, Lost is must reading. If this brilliant assessment of the condition of our democracy is anything, it is a clarion call for rootstriking. Branches of evil abound. Witness the recklessness and irresponsibility on Wall Street that brought America's and the world's economy to its knees. The only surprise is that anyone was surprised, after Depression-era protections against such chicanery were systematically weakened and eventually swept away altogether. Banks became glorified casinos. In 3...2...1..., the financial system descended into chaos. Homes were lost. Life savings vanished. Economic growth ground to a halt. Sales slumped. Employers laid off millions. Factories were shuttered. Were banksters thrown in jail? No. Was Glass-Steagall reenacted? No. Why not? Because, at the root, our nation's "leaders" are not free to lead. They are paid by the likes of Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup and Bank of America to do nothing. For others, the branch that simply must be hacked is the massive redistribution of wealth in America and the slow but steady extermination of the middle class. In 2010, 93% of all income growth in the U.S. went to the wealthiest 1%. The concentration of wealth at the top is the greatest in living memory. Are tax rates for millionaires and billionaires being restored to levels seen in past years when our economy was most prosperous and America was growing together rather than growing apart? No. Why not? Because, at the root, our "leaders" are not free to lead. The 2010 midterm congressional elections were bankrolled by less than 1% of Americans and 2012 will be no different. The richest 1% control one-third of America's net worth, but just 1% of the 1% contribute a quarter of the money to all federal political campaigns. Some see climate change as the problem that none of us can afford to see go unaddressed. Yet our nation's "leaders" have their heads buried in the sand on global warming. Is Congress moving on cap-and-trade legislation to address carbon emissions? No. Are big public investments being made in renewable energy sources? No. Compared to federal subsidies for oil and gas production, green energy gets almost nothing. Why? Because, at the root, our "leaders" are paid by Exxon Mobil, Koch Industries and Chevron to remain in denial over climate change. Few things affect all of us as much as what we eat. Yet our food policy is a mess. All manner of poisons are dumped on crops, and regulations have been eased. Drug allergies are on the rise and more antibiotic-resistant bacteria emerge almost daily, yet factory farmers are allowed to "treat" disease prophylactically by feeding healthy cattle antibiotics. We face alarming levels of childhood obesity and unprecedented rates of diabetes among children, yet we continue to heavily subsidize the processed food industry and the production of high-fructose corn syrup among other culprits. Why? At the root, Monsanto and Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland and their ilk are paying handsomely to make sure our nation's "leaders" keep things the way they are. As Lessig concludes, there really is only one issue in America. Our "leaders" are not free to lead on any of the gigantic problems facing our country. There are countless branches of evil, but one root that must be struck.
This article was originally published in Wisconsin Democracy Campaigns Big Money Blog.
Middle Wisconsin News SPACESHIP EARTH
Ive often heard people say, I wonder what it would be like to be on board a space ship, and the answer is very simple. What does it feel like? Thats all we have ever experienced. We are all astronauts. I know you are paying attention, but Im sure you dont immediately agree and say, Yes thats right, I am an astronaut. I'm sure that you dont really sense yourself to be aboard a fantastically real spaceship - our spherical Spaceship Earth. Of our little sphere you have seen only small portions. However you have viewed more than did pre -twentieth century man, for in his entire lifetime he saw only one millionth of the Earths surface. Youve seen a lot more. - - R. Buckminster Fuller Operating Manual For Spaceship Earth
Our little Spaceship Earth is only eight thousand miles in diameter, which is almost a negligible dimension in the great vastness of space
- - R. Buckminster Fuller Operating Manual For Spaceship Earth
For a moment let us attempt to envision the reality of being aboard Spaceship Earth - to internalize being crewmembers of the ship - to understand that our continued well being depends upon the integrity of the ship and the well being of our fellow crewmembers. Thinking as diligently as we can in this frame of mind . . . . . . . . . . . . Would crew members be denied healthcare for not having insurance? Would requiring crew members to have insurance make any sense at all? Would wasting valuable resources to maintain insurance companies make any sense at all? Would hedge fund managers be valuable on a spaceship? Would exotic financial instruments be useful? Credit default swaps? Would we allocate so large a portion of the otherwise adequate resources of the ship to 1% of the crew that it would cause another 30% of the crew to starve? Would we waste massive amounts of the spaceships resources and the intellectual capability of our greatest scientists designing armaments to blow up the spaceship? Would we allow crew members and their children to live unsheltered out in the elements when there was more than enough existing housing to take care of everyone? We are trying to operate a spaceship using reptilian/reflexive guidance systems.

Wealth and Money
By Dave Svetlik - Mosinee
Government debt is an insidious tool - a deliberately and methodically created tool to enable the dismantling of social programs such as social security and Medicare, to enable the privatization of the commons and all things public, and to enable the replacement of our democracy by an oligarchy, by a government of the ultra-rich and the Lords of Wall Street. To accomplish this feat required years of spreading unwarranted hatred for government among average citizens, and years of spreading the lie, and yes it is a lie, that government spending was out of control. On the following two pages we have published a table on government spending taken directly from the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, and a graph which show the actual record of government spending from 1940 through 2011. The table shows government spending (shown as Outlays while revenue is shown as Receipts) both in billions of dollars and as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). When the radical right speaks of government spending they will always refer to spending in terms of billions of dollars. This, of course, is because in terms of dollars, spending has gone steadily up since 1940. However, Americas GDP also grew immensely during those same years. To use dollars as a measure of excessive government spending is equivalent to saying that Ford Motor Company spends more on facilities, technology, and employees now than it did when Henrys first Model T came off the production line, so therefore Fords spending is out of control. It is an invalid argument and this is precisely why perpetrators of the government spending lie will always avoid speaking in terms of spending as a percentage of GDP. Please spend a little time looking at the last three columns on the table because they give Receipts (revenue), Outlays (spending) and yearly Surplus or Deficit as a percentage of GDP. What one finds is that government spending reached almost 44 percent of GDP in the World War II years of 1943-44 and then fluctuated up and down to reach 19 percent of GDP in 1952. Thereafter government spending remained incredibly constant (between 17 and 23 percent with the highest years occurring during or immediately following the Reagan Administration) for the next 56 years until 2008. The Bush and Obama bank bailouts and the stimulus funds caused spending to reach 25 percent of GDP in 2009, but spending is already projected to return to 22 percent of GDP in 2013 (lower than the highest Reagan years). IN OTHER WORDS -THERE HAS NEVER BEEN RUNAWAY GOVERNMENT SPENDING - EVER . Through tax breaks for corporations and the ultra-rich, and deregulation of the financial industry which caused the near total collapse of our economy and the subsequent loss of revenue from millions of unemployed or poorly paid workers (not to mention a decade of unfunded wars), government has been deliberately and methodically defunded. Per Grover Norquist, we want to drown government in a bathtub. What Norquist doesnt say is that when government has successfully been drowned, the ultra-rich (six Walmart heirs are worth as much as the bottom 42 % of all Americans and the top 25 hedge fund managers each make as much as all of the teachers in Milwaukee, Madison, Minneapolis, and St. Paul combined while paying only 15% taxes) can buy America for bargain basement prices and average people (you and I and our kids and grandkids) will be their serfs.
Continued on Page 16

Wealth and Money
Table 1.3SUMMARY OF RECEIPTS, OUTLAYS, AND SURPLUSES OR DEFICITS () IN CURRENT DOLLARS, CONSTANT (FY 2005) DOLLARS, AND AS PERCENTAGES OF GDP: 19402017 (dollar amounts in billions)
Fiscal Year Receipts 1940 ................. 6.5 1941 ................. 8.7 1942 ............... 14.6 1943 ................24.0 1944 ............... 43.7 1945 ............... 45.2 1946 ............... 39.3 1947 ................38.5 1948 ................41.6 1949 ................39.4 1950 ................39.4 1951 ............... 51.6 1952 ............... 66.2 1953 ................69.6 1954 ............... 69.7 1955 ................65.5 1956 ................74.6 1957 ................80.0 1958 ................79.6 1959 ................79.2 1960 ................92.5 1961 ................94.4 1962 ................99.7 1963 ..............106.6 1964 ..............112.6 1965 ..............116.8 1966 ..............130.8 1967 ..............148.8 1968 ..............153.0 1969 ..............186.9 1970 ..............192.8 1971 ..............187.1 1972 ..............207.3 1973 ..............230.8 1974 ..............263.2 1975 ..............279.1 1976 ..............298.1 TQ ...................81.2 1977 ..............355.6 1978 ..............399.6 1979 ..............463.3 1980 ..............517.1 1981 ..............599.3 1982 ..............617.8 1983 ..............600.6 1984 ..............666.4 1985 ..............734.0 1986 ..............769.2 1987 ..............854.3
In Current Dollars Outlays 9.5 13.7 35.1 78.6 91.3 92.7 55.2 34.5 29.8 38.8 42.6 45.5 67.7 76.1 70.9 68.4 70.6 76.6 82.4 92.1 92.2 97.7 106.8 111.3 118.5 118.2 134.5 157.5 178.1 183.6 195.6 210.2 230.7 245.7 269.4 332.3 371.8 96.0 409.2 458.7 504.0 590.9 678.2 745.7 808.4 851.8 946.3 990.4 1,004.0 Surplus or Deficit () -2.9 -4.9 -20.5 -54.6 -47.6 -47.6 -15.9 4.0 11.8 0.6 -3.1 6.1 -1.5 -6.5 -1.2 -3.0 3.9 3.4 -2.8 -12.8 0.3 -3.3 -7.1 -4.8 -5.9 -1.4 -3.7 -8.6 -25.2 3.2 -2.8 -23.0 -23.4 -14.9 -6.1 -53.2 -73.7 -14.7 -53.7 -59.2 -40.7 -73.8 -79.0 -128.0 -207.8 -185.4 -212.3 -221.2 -149.7
In Constant (FY 2005) Dollars Receipts 81.4 104.2 156.3 233.9 461.0 499.0 433.7 385.1 392.8 384.9 370.4 493.0 635.0 619.3 599.3 544.1 590.6 602.8 566.8 542.4 630.5 626.3 659.7 674.9 703.8 720.6 788.6 875.4 866.7 993.5 967.9 877.4 908.1 956.5 1,003.9 965.7 955.9 253.1 1,054.4 1,113.3 1,186.7 1,197.3 1,251.1 1,202.6 1,113.4 1,173.9 1,250.5 1,277.2 1,375.0 Outlays 117.8 163.3 375.4 765.6 962.1 1,024.4 609.6 345.0 281.3 379.2 399.6 434.7 649.6 677.1 609.2 568.9 559.3 577.1 586.5 630.4 628.4 648.5 707.0 705.0 740.8 729.4 810.9 926.3 1,009.3 976.3 982.2 985.3 1,010.4 1,018.3 1,027.3 1,149.9 1,192.4 299.1 1,213.6 1,278.2 1,291.1 1,368.2 1,416.0 1,451.7 1,498.6 1,500.4 1,612.2 1,644.6 1,616.0 Surplus or Deficit () -36.3 -59.1 -219.1 -531.7 -501.1 -525.4 -175.9 40.2 111.5 5.7 -29.3 58.3 -14.6 -57.8 -9.9 -24.9 31.2 25.7 -19.7 -87.9 2.0 -22.1 -47.3 -30.1 -37.0 -8.7 -22.3 -50.8 -142.6 17.2 -14.3 -108.0 -102.4 -61.8 -23.4 -184.2 -236.5 -45.9 -159.1 -164.9 -104.3 -170.9 -164.9 -249.1 -385.2 -326.5 -361.7 -367.4 -241.0
Addendum: Composite Deflator 0.0804 0.0836 0.0936 0.1026 0.0949 0.0905 0.0906 0.1000 0.1058 0.1024 0.1065 0.1047 0.1042 0.1124 0.1163 0.1203 0.1263 0.1327 0.1405 0.1461 0.1467 0.1507 0.1511 0.1579 0.1600 0.1621 0.1659 0.1700 0.1765 0.1881 0.1992 0.2133 0.2283 0.2413 0.2622 0.2890 0.3118 0.3209 0.3372 0.3589 0.3904 0.4319 0.4790 0.5137 0.5394 0.5677 0.5870 0.6022 0.6213
As Percentages of GDP Receipts 6.8 7.6 10.1 13.3 20.9 20.4 17.7 16.5 16.2 14.5 14.4 16.1 19.0 18.7 18.5 16.5 17.5 17.7 17.3 16.2 17.8 17.8 17.6 17.8 17.6 17.0 17.3 18.4 17.6 19.7 19.0 17.3 17.6 17.6 18.3 17.9 17.1 17.7 18.0 18.0 18.5 19.0 19.6 19.2 17.5 17.3 17.7 17.5 18.4 Outlays 9.8 12.0 24.3 43.6 43.6 41.9 24.8 14.8 11.6 14.3 15.6 14.2 19.4 20.4 18.8 17.3 16.5 17.0 17.9 18.8 17.8 18.4 18.8 18.6 18.5 17.2 17.8 19.4 20.5 19.4 19.3 19.5 19.6 18.7 18.7 21.3 21.4 20.9 20.7 20.7 20.1 21.7 22.2 23.1 23.5 22.2 22.8 22.5 21.6 Surplus or Deficit () -3.0 -4.3 -14.2 -30.3 -22.7 -21.5 -7.2 1.7 4.6 0.2 -1.1 1.9 -0.4 -1.7 -0.3 -0.8 0.9 0.8 -0.6 -2.6 0.1 -0.6 -1.3 -0.8 -0.9 -0.2 -0.5 -1.1 -2.9 0.3 -0.3 -2.1 -2.0 -1.1 -0.4 -3.4 -4.2 -3.2 -2.7 -2.7 -1.6 - 2.7 -2.6 -4.0 -6.0 -4.8 -5.1 -5.0 -3.2
Continued on Page 17

Wealth and Money
Table 1.3SUMMARY OF RECEIPTS, OUTLAYS, AND SURPLUSES OR DEFICITS () IN CURRENT DOLLARS, CONSTANT (FY 2005) DOLLARS, AND AS PERCENTAGES OF GDP: 19402017 (dollar amounts in billions) Fiscal Year Receipts
1988 .....................909.2 1989 .....................991.1 1990 ..................1,032.0 1991 ..................1,055.0 1992 ..................1,091.2 1993 ..................1,154.3 1994 ..................1,258.6 1995 ..................1,351.8 1996 ..................1,453.1 1997 ..................1,579.2 1998 ..................1,721.7 1999 ..................1,827.5 2000 ..................2,025.2 2001 ..................1,991.1 2002 ..................1,853.1 2003 ..................1,782.3 2004 ..................1,880.1 2005 ..................2,153.6 2006 ..................2,406.9 2007 ..................2,568.0 2008 ..................2,524.0 2009 ..................2,105.0 2010 ..................2,162.7 2011 ..................2,303.5 2012 estimate .2,468.6 2013 estimate .2,902.0 2014 estimate .3,215.3 2015 estimate .... 3,450.2 2016 estimate .....3,680.1 2017 estimate .....3,919.3
In Current Dollars Outlays

1,064.4 1,143.7 1,253.0 1,324.2 1,381.5 1,409.4 1,461.8 1,515.7 1,560.5 1,601.1 1,652.5 1,701.8 1,789.0 1,862.8 2,010.9 2,159.9 2,292.8 2,472.0 2,655.0 2,728.7 2,982.5 3,517.7 3,456.2 3,603.1 3,795.5 3,803.4 3,883.1 4,059.9 4,328.8 4,531.7
In Constant (FY 2005) Dollars Receipts

1,420.7 1,493.3 1,508.3 1,472.4 1,466.9 1,510.9 1,617.3 1,690.8 1,774.8 1,889.3 2,040.2 2,135.4 2,309.2 2,214.3 2,027.9 1,900.5 1,949.3 2,153.6 2,324.6 2,413.1 2,288.1 1,899.0 1,927.9 1,998.7 2,089.4 2,409.1 2,620.7 2,759.0 2,886.8 3,013.2
Surplus or Deficit ()
-155.2 -152.6 -221.0 -269.2 -290.3 -255.1 -203.2 -164.0 -107.4 -21.9 69.3 125.6 236.2 128.2 -157.8 -377.6 -412.7 -318.3 -248.2 -160.7 -458.6 -1,412.7 -1,293.5 -1,299.6 -1,326.9 -901.4 -667.8 -609.7 -648.8 -612.4
Outlays
1,663.2 1,723.3 1,831.3 1,848.2 1,857.1 1,844.7 1,878.4 1,895.9 1,906.1 1,915.4 1,958.1 1,988.6 2,039.9 2,071.7 2,200.6 2,303.2 2,377.2 2,472.0 2,564.3 2,564.1 2,703.8 3,173.4 3,081.0 3,126.3 3,212.5 3,157.4 3,165.0 3,246.6 3,395.7 3,484.1
-242.5 -230.0 -323.1 -375.8 -390.3 -333.8 -261.1 -205.1 -131.2 -26.2 82.1 146.8 269.4 142.6 -172.6 -402.6 -427.9 -318.3 -239.7 -151.0 -415.7 -1,274.4 -1,153.0 -1,127.6 -1,123.1 -748.3 -544.3 -487.6 -508.9 -470.9
Addendum: Composite Deflator

0.6400 0.6637 0.6842 0.7165 0.7439 0.7640 0.7782 0.7995 0.8187 0.8359 0.8439 0.8558 0.8770 0.8992 0.9138 0.9378 0.9645 1.0000 1.0354 1.0642 1.1031 1.1085 1.1218 1.1525 1.1815 1.2046 1.2269 1.2505 1.2748 1.3007
As Percentages of GDP Receipts

18.2 18.4 18.0 17.8 17.5 17.5 18.0 18.4 18.8 19.2 19.9 19.8 20.6 19.5 17.6 16.2 16.1 17.3 18.2 18.5 17.6 15.1 15.1 15.4 15.8 17.8 18.7 19.0 19.1 19.2
Outlays
21.3 21.2 21.9 22.3 22.1 21.4 21.0 20.6 20.2 19.5 19.1 18.5 18.2 18.2 19.1 19.7 19.6 19.9 20.1 19.7 20.8 25.2 24.1 24.1 24.3 23.3 22.6 22.3 22.5 22.2
-3.1 -2.8 -3.9 -4.5 -4.7 -3.9 -2.9 -2.2 -1.4 -0.3 0.8 1.4 2.4 1.3 -1.5 -3.4 -3.5 -2.6 -1.9 -1.2 -3.2 -10.1 -9.0 -8.7 -8.5 -5.5 -3.9 -3.4 -3.4 -3.0
Reagan
Clinton
Bush
National Spending includes Federal, State, and Local Government Note both government debt and spending in Reagan, Clinton, and Bush years Graph by Middle Wisconsin
Table Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2013/assets/hist.pdf
CHALLENGING THE MYTH...
And if all others accepted the lie which the party imposedif all records told the same tale then the lie passed into history and became the truth. George Orwell, 1984 (published in 1949)
The Myth That We Cannot Afford Medicare For All - Or For That Matter, Simply Care For All People In Our Society In General
By Dave Svetlik - Mosinee and Miguel de Cervantes - Spain and Dwight D. Eisenhower - America
It isnt a perfect world. We all know that. But to accept the status quo, to believe that nothing can be done to care for all people in our society, or our world for that matter, is to accept despair and defeat. The brutal proposals in the Ryan budget endorsed by the radical right are the epitome of such defeat. They are the recipe for cynicism and despair. We are constantly told that we are broke, that we can do nothing to help ourselves or our fellow man, that we cannot afford healthcare for 46 million Americans, that one in four American children must live in poverty, that we must cut food stamps for families in need. The list of ways in which those of us who are not ruthlessly selfcentered, or who refuse to believe in the juvenile, Randian ideology of greed so apparent in Congressman Paul Ryan and Senator Ron Johnson, or who choose to believe in the decency of our fellow man - the list of ways in which we are sacrificed for the rich and the corporate, seems endless. For us, nothing can be afforded. And yet we are all fully aware that when the oligarchy, the plutocracy, feels threatened, all of the money necessary to wage war or do whatever else is deemed necessary to protect the selfish interests of the powers that be magically appears. Suddenly mankind can afford to do anything to take care of the ultra-rich. This same pattern holds true not only in the defense industry, but in all facets of how we as a nation are led to invest our resources. The following quotations are food for thought: I've been a soldier and a slave. I've seen my comrades fall in battle or die more slowly under the lash in Africa. I've held them in my arms at the final moment. These were men who saw life as it is, yet they died despairing. No glory, no brave last words, only their eyes, filled with confusion, questioning "Why?" I don't think they were wondering why they were dying, but why they had ever lived. When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? To surrender dreams - -this may be madness; to seek treasure where there is only trash. Too much sanity may be madness! But maddest of all - - is to see life as it is and not as it should be. - - Miguel de Cervantes Don Quixote de La Mancha Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron. - - Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower
May 24, 2012 Page 11
U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515
The Budget for All

Budget of the Congressional Progressive Caucus Fiscal Year 2013
Executive Summary
The American Dream has always meant that hard work and responsibility lead to a good job and a better life for your children. The American people deserve and demand a budget that makes that dream a reality for all. Getting our fiscal house in order and addressing our jobs crisis will require asking tough questions and making difficult decisions. The Congressional Progressive Caucuss Budget for All responds by listening to the American people and reflecting their values. Throughout our history, Americans have stood shoulder to shoulder to fight through the worst. At this decisive moment, the Budget for All asks the most fortunate to contribute a sensible share. We ask because we value a teacher as much as a CEO, a grocer as much as a venture capitalist, working moms as much as working dads, and our rough neighborhoods as much as our safe suburbs. The CPC budget is a governing vision for all Americans. It is a reflection of their priorities and voices. Americans believe in the covenant made between a government and its citizens. We hear them, and honor the promises made by Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. The CPC Budget protects these basic guarantees: When you are old, you will not live in poverty; when you are sick, you will have affordable health care; and when youve fallen on tough times, you will have support to get back on your feet. Those promises are not up for negotiation or experimentation. Americans believe, and experts agree, that the solution to our debt and deficit woes should rely on three components: Job growth, increased revenues, and spending cuts. The Budget for All relies on all three. Government is not the panacea for the issues that we face, but it is not the singular cause of our nations strife as some would suggest. Our budget is a plan for those that believe in a government that works for them and helps find solutions. Our Budget Invests in Job Creation Now & Lays the Foundation for the Future When middle-class Americans earn a paycheck, the entire economy succeeds. By focusing our investments in targeted areas such as transportation infrastructure, domestic manufacturing, and small businesses innovation, while supporting tax credits for working families, the Budget for All gets the economy back on the right track. Make no mistake: every tax cut for a millionaire is an education cut for Americas children; every tax giveaway to special interests gives away our ability to rebuild America. We need a budget that works for all Americans not just the well-connected and well-off. Working and middle class Americans have been working harder and harder for less and less. This budget achieves long-term fiscal sustainability while protecting the services, programs, and promises that Americans support. There is a pathway forward of shared responsibility and prosperity. This is it.
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Overview of Our Policies

Our Budgets Top Line Deficit reduction of $6.8 trillion Primary spending cuts of $749 billion Public investment and job creation measures of $2.9 trillion Debt reduced to 62.3% of GDP by 2022 Comprehensive Economic Recovery Package Infrastructure Bank Surface transportation investment (we propose a six-year $556 billion reauthorization bill that, over ten years, would lead to a $241 billion increase in transportation funding) Making Work Pay tax credit for 2013 through 2015 More than $2 trillion domestic investment package including: The Emergency Jobs to Restore the American Dream Act School Improvement, Park Improvement, Student Jobs, Neighborhood Heroes, Health, Community, and Child Care Corps Widespread domestic investments (see function chart) Job Creating Initiatives from the Presidents FY2013 Budget o Temporary 10 percent tax credit for new jobs and wage increases ($20.8 billion) o Additional tax credits for investment in advanced energy manufacturing ($3.2 billion) o National Network of Manufacturing Innovation Institutes ($1 billion) o Capital access for entrepreneurs and small businesses ($2 million) o Manufacturing Communities tax credit ($4.3 billion) o Tax credit for the production of advanced technology vehicles ($1.7 billion) o Tax credit for alternative-fuel commercial vehicles ($1.7 billion) o Double the amount of expensed start-up expenditures ($3.1 billion) o Enhance and make permanent the research and experimentation tax credit ($99.3 billion) Individual Income Tax Policies * Allow the Bush-era tax cuts to expire for the top 2% of earnings at the end of 2012, while extending marriage relief, credits, and incentives for children, families, and education. * Allow the 28% and 25% brackets to sunset once the economy is on solid footing, in 2017 and 2019, respectively. The 10% bracket does not sunset and is extended throughout the 10 year window. * Maintain refundable credits expansion as outlined in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Earned In come Tax Credit, the Child and Dependent Care Credit , and the American Opportunity Tax Credit) * Index the AMT for inflation for a decade (the AMT patch is fully paid for) * Enact the Fairness in Taxation Act - millionaire and billionaire tax rates proposal (adding 45%, 46%, 47%, 48%, and 49% top rates) * Tax all capital gains and qualified dividends as ordinary income * Repeal the step-up basis for capital gains * Limit the rate at which itemized deductions can reduce tax liability to 28% for high earners * Eliminate the mortgage interest deduction for vacation homes and yachts * Replace the tax exclusion for interest on state and local bonds with a subsidy for the issuer * Enact a high net worth surcharge (0.5% on wealth over $10 million, over 10 years) * End the exclusion for foreign-earned income
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May 24, 2012
Corporate Tax Reform * * * * * Eliminate corporate welfare for oil, gas, and coal companies Enact a financial crisis responsibility fee Enact a financial speculation tax Reinstate Superfund taxes Price carbon pollution together with a robust rebate that holds low and moderate income households harmless * Close various corporate loopholes that distort true tax liability * Adopt the international tax reforms in the Presidents FY2013 budget Health Care
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* Enact a public option * Allow Medicare to negotiate cheaper prescription drug prices in Part D * Adopt targeted Medicare and Medicaid fraud, waste, and abuse savings from the Presidents budget while maintaining all benefits * Adopt the generic prescription drug development and release proposals in the Presidents budget * Adopt the Narrowing Exceptions for Withholding Taxes (NEWT) Act * Prevent a cut in Medicare physician payments for a decade (the doc fix is fully paid for) * End subsidies for junk and fast food advertising to children Social Security * Eliminate the taxable maximum on the employer and employee side, phased in over 5 years. * Maintain benefit structure, increase benefits based on higher contributions on the employee side Defense Savings * End overseas contingency operations emergency funding starting in Fiscal Year 2014, providing funding for a secure redeployment in FY2013 * Reduce baseline defense spending by reducing strategic capabilities, including Cold War-era nuclear weapons and infrastructure, conventional forces, procurement, and end strength Other Policies * Enact Comprehensive immigration reform * Reduce agriculture subsidies * Adopt public financing of elections
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Background on Policy Proposals
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Job Creation & Domestic Investments The Budget for All attacks Americas persistently high unemployment by utilizing all of the tools at our disposal: Direct-hire programs (as seen in the Emergency Jobs to Restore the American Dream Act), private sector tax incentives (as outlined by the Presidents FY2013 budget proposals), and widespread domestic investments. The Emergency Jobs to Restore the American Dream Act. This legislation outlines a plan to put over 2 million individuals back to work over the next 2 years by hiring them for work in areas critical to our quality of life. This would create the School Improvement Corps for public school rehabilitation projects, the Park Improvement Corps made of youth ages 16 to 25 for restoration on public lands, the Student Jobs Corps of college students for part-time work study positions, the Neighborhood Heroes Corps to employee teachers, firefighters and cops, among others. Priority hiring is given to the unemployed and veterans. Targeted Economic Improvement Tax Incentives from Presidents FY2013 Budget. The Budget for All includes several of the Presidents proposals to spur clean energy, manufacturing, and cutting-edge technological investments in the private sector. These specifically targeted approaches will remake the middle class, keep our nation competitive in the 21st century, and boost much-needed private sector job growth in the immediate future. Domestic Investments. Domestic investments create jobs and lay the foundation for exceptional American industries competing in the global economy. The creation of an infrastructure bank would attract private investment toward critical infrastructure projects and facilitate private-public partnerships with our states and localities. Some projections estimate that the iBank could mobilize up to $625 billion in funding for infrastructure. A $556 billion surface transportation bill would help meet the overwhelming need for repair and construction of our roadways and aging infrastructure. Lastly, the Budget for All outlines a plan for nearly $2.1 trillion in widespread domestic investment, getting badly needed funds to valuable programs that are scheduled for starvation under current law. Housing. Millions of families have already lost their homes and an estimated twelve million Americans now owe more money than their home is worth. This means one in four homeowners is at high risk of foreclosure and the problem is far from over. The negative equity creates a drag on consumer spending and is prolonging the economic crisis. Our budget protects and invests in important programs that are staving off further devastation by providing additional funding to Income Security, Housing and Commerce, Education, Training and Social Services, and Veterans Benefits and Services functions within the budget. Additionally, the caucus supports policies that are beyond the context of this budget, but will further hold banks accountable for careless and fraudulent actions as well as allowing write down on mortgage principal amounts for struggling homeowners. Protects Working Families. The middle class that is the backbone of America is shrinking as more families fall into poverty. The Progressive Caucus believes that every child has the right to good health, a good education and a roof over their head. Our budget invests in Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) and Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) that ensure children arent going to bed hungry at night. Funding Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) provides assistance and work opportunities to families that are struggling through the recession. Unemployment compensation protects American families and creates the consumer demand needed to create jobs. The Budget for All properly funds education so that American children are not falling behind the rest of the world and that we are making Americas future bright starting with each and every child.
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Our Budget Creates a Fair Tax System

It defies all reason and common-sense that a multi-millionaire like Warren Buffett would pay lower tax rates than his secretary. At the very least, our nation should take a basic step towards fairness and adopt the Buffett Rule. The Budget for All goes beyond this rule by treating wealth made off investments the same as income earned by a hard days work. Further, the CPC budget would institute new tax brackets for millionaires and billionaires, as outlined by the Fairness in Taxation Act. These sensible brackets would still place the top marginal rate lower than what it was for nearly all of the Reagan Administration. Additionally, the CPC budget calls for long overdue reform to the estate tax and caps the value of itemized deductions that disproportionately favor the wealthy. These policies are pursued alongside credits for vulnerable Americans, the middle class, and students. The Budget for All eliminates corporate welfare for oil companies making record profits and makes polluters that endanger our health pay for irresponsible practices. It ensures that the banks that wrecked our economy pay a modest financial responsibility fee and that exotic trading and gambling by Wall Street traders incurs a tax to deter more reckless behavior. Finally, the CPC Budget institutes corporate tax reform that closes loopholes businesses have used for far too long to game the system, break the rules, ship American jobs overseas and avoid paying their fair share. Individual Income Tax Policies 2001/2003 Tax Cuts and Other Tax Relief. The Budget for All extends tax relief for approximately 98% of Americans while our economic recovery is still fragile for the next 4 years. In 2017, the CPC budget would allow the 28% bracket to revert to 31%. Two years later, in 2019, the 25% bracket would sunset. The budget would maintain the 10% bracket, marriage penalty relief (standard deduction, EITC phase-out, and the 15% bracket), preferential treatment of Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, employer provided education assistance, student loan interest, select tax free scholarships, and tax exempt bonds for school construction. Boosted Refundables established under ARRA. Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a number of tax credits targeted at working families were expanded to boost relief during hard economic times. The Budget for All retains the improvements made to the Earned Income Tax Credit (qualifying children and phase-out range), Child and Dependent Care Credit, and the American Opportunity Tax Credit. Index the AMT for inflation for a decade. The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) was designed to keep wealthy taxpayers from using loopholes to avoid paying taxes. But because it is not automatically updated for inflation, more middle-class taxpayers are getting hit with the AMT. We need a long-term solution to this problem and support at the very least a shift to the Buffett Rule, which would set an appropriate $1 million income threshold. Until a clear solution is brokered, this budget is honest about our obligations to middle-class families in this country. Our budget fully pays for the AMT patch for the next decade.
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Millionaire and billionaire tax rates proposal. The Schakowsky plan asks the extraordinarily wealthy to pay a sensible share by creating five additional income tax brackets, the highest of which is still lower than the top bracket in place during nearly all of the Reagan Administration $1 10 million 45% $10 20 million: 46% $20 100 million: 47% $100 million - $1billion 48% $1 billion and over 49% Tax Capital Gains as Ordinary Income & Eliminating Step Up Basis. This policy would eliminate any preferential treatment on long-term capital gains and qualified dividends (currently set at 15%), similar to the policy established by the 1986 tax reform signed by President Reagan. As one of the leading drivers of income inequality in this country, our nation must end special tax breaks for investment income. Further, by eliminating step-up basis and using the carryover standard instead, where capital gains taxes are levied upon the sale of assets, the basis for that tax will be founded on the true appreciation in the assets value. Progressive & Sensible Estate Tax. The Budget for All makes important estate tax reform including a $2.5 million exemption ($5 million for couples) followed by a progressive series of marginal rates ranging from 45 percent to 65 percent, as seen in the Senator Sanders Progressive Estate Tax Act. Further, the Progressive Caucus supports the reforms and loopholes closures as seen in Representative McDermotts Sensible Estate Tax Act. Cap the benefit of itemized deductions at 28%. Only 30% of taxpayers itemize their deductions because the majority of Americans claim the standard deduction. Further, the value of a deduction corresponds to an individuals marginal tax rate making itemization highly regressive. For example, itemized deductions totaling $10,000 reduce taxes for a person in the 15 percent bracket by $1,500 (15 percent of $10,000) but cut taxes by $3,500 for a person in the 35 percent bracket (35 percent of $10,000). While itemizers are of all income levels, this proposal holds lower earners completely harmless, only affecting those currently in the top two income brackets. Eliminate the Mortgage Interest Deduction for Vacation Homes and Yachts. The purpose of the modernday home mortgage interest deduction is to spur homeownership among average Americans, not subsidize the lifestyles of the rich and the famous. This proposal would eliminate the mortgage interest deduction for vacation homes and yachts currently being subsidized by the hard-earned tax dollars of everyday people. Replace the tax exclusion for interest on state and local bonds with a subsidy for the issuer. The Budget for All would replace the tax exclusion for interest income on state and local government bonds with a direct subsidy to state and local governments. Under this policy, bond issuers would make interest payments to bondholders subject to taxation and receive a 15% subsidy from the federal government for the interest paid on those bonds. This would simplify the tax code, increase budgeting transparency, and more directly and cleanly subsidize borrowing by subnational governments. High Net Worth Surcharge. The Budget for All recognizes that our economy has systemically gotten off track. With more and more American children living in poverty, income inequality is hitting all-time highs while economic mobility, the middle-class, and the American dream all suffer. This policy would adopt a temporary 0.5% surcharge on net worth over $10 million. The surcharge begins to phases in gradually from 2013 to 2017. This surcharge only affects less than one-half of 1 percent of Americans owning more than $10 million in assets.
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Corporate Tax Reform Eliminate corporate welfare for oil, gas, and coal companies. The Budget for All repeals exploration and development expensing, preferential tax treatment of royalties, and domestic manufacturing deductions, among other tax preferences, for oil, natural gas, and coal producers. Enact a Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee. The Budget for All levies a small tax on large banks with more than $50 billion in assets to repay the cost of the financial calamity of 2008, and that still pose a structural danger to our economy as too big to fail institutions. Wall Street Gaming Tax. This policy would enact a tax on derivatives, credit default swaps, and other exotic financial products, including both sides of futures and forwards, option premiums and foreign exchange spot transactions. This is a tax levied directly against the types of opaque, complex trades that Wall Street manipulators used to inflate their profits and were a direct cause of the financial crisis. This policy would use tax base and rates as follows: stock transactions at 0.25%, bond transactions at 0.004%, option premiums at 0.25% per year to maturity, foreign exchange transactions at 0.004%, and futures and swaps at 0.01% Reinstate Superfund taxes. The Environmental Protection Agencys Superfund program, once largely funded by dedicated taxes, is now largely funded by general revenue. Having a stable source of funding, rather than relying on year-to-year appropriations, would help plan multi-year cleanup of hazardous chemical waste. The budget would reinstate the Superfund excise taxes that expired in 1995 in order to finance cleanup of hazardous waste. Impose a Price on Carbon Pollution. The Budget for All would impose a $20 per ton price on CO2 (increasing at 5.6% a year) on polluters, and rebate 25% of all revenues as refundable credits holding low and middle income families harmless. Closing corporate loopholes that distort true tax liability. These policies reform and update the rules that corporations have exploited in order to dodge taxes including Eliminating the stock option loophole. Under current law, when a company deducts stock options as they are cashed in by an employee, the value reported to the IRS can be inflated to current market value, rather than the original cost to the corporation. As of late, this has commonly been referred to as the Facebook loophole although it has long-existed and been used by businesses to minimize or eliminate their tax liability. Under the Budget for All, the value of this deduction would match the costs reported to shareholders, which is typically much lower. In addition, this policy would impose a $1 million cap on deductions related to stock options, the current standard applied to other types of executive compensation. Employee Misclassification Prevention Act. Under current law, a business owner must withhold income taxes, withhold and pay Social Security and Medicare taxes, and pay unemployment tax on wages paid to an employee. In contrast, a business owner does not have to withhold or pay any taxes on payments to independent contractors. This policy would impose new obligations on employers that use independent contractors and enact stiff penalties on businesses that misclassify their workers. When last comprehensively studied by the IRS in 1984, misclassification resulted in a one year loss of $1.6 billion.
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May 24, 2012 Page 11
International Tax Reforms in the Presidents FY2013 Budget. The President put forth a strong set of reforms to curtail business behavior that moves jobs and investments overseas. The Budget for All includes proposals to end manipulation of interest expenses of foreign subsidiaries, determine foreign tax credits on a pooling basis, crack down on transfers of intangible assets to tax havens, level the playing field between domestic and foreign insurers, and modify tax rules of dual capacity taxpayers, among others. Our Budget Brings Our Troops Home & Realigns Our National Security Strategy Our military engagements overseas are currently being financed on borrowed money, fought on borrowed time, and following a strategy unsuited for modern threats. Defense spending has nearly doubled over the last decade, and this approach has strained our military and economy to the brink. The Budget for All responsibly ends operations in Afghanistan, and puts an end to nation building outside the United States. With two wars drawing to a close, we need a leaner, more agile force to combat 21st century risks. By employing strategies designed for todays enemies, the CPC budget maintains a smaller, but still unparalleled, armed forces. The CPC budget reduces baseline military spending to ensure defense spending does not continue to contribute significantly to our current fiscal burden and redirects these funds to priorities such as caring for our veterans and smart diplomacy. In total, the Budget for All achieves nearly $1.9 trillion in savings by bringing our troops home and realigning the Department of Defense. Our budget invests in foreign diplomacy and international aid to stabilize key regions of the world by smarter, more efficient means. End emergency war funding beginning in FY 2014. The Congressional Progressive Caucus believes that the militarys time in Afghanistan must come to a responsible and expeditious end. The Budget for All maintains Overseas Contingency Operation funding for redeployment in FY 2013, but the funding is zeroed out thereafter, and includes a prohibition on funds being used for any permanent bases in Iraq or Afghanistan. This achieves $1.1trillion in savings over 10 years. Reduce base discretionary defense spending. With more than a decade of war coming to a close, every dollar spent at the Department of Defense must be reviewed with renewed vigor. A modern defense strategy must focus our armed forces on their strengths of crisis response, defense, and deterrence. Our military needs to adapt to current threats and challenges, particularly on nuclear proliferation and terrorism. The threat of terrorist attacks could be effectively dealt with through cost-effective deployment of Intelligence and Special Operations, while eliminating failed strategies. To suit the newly formed strategy, the Budget for All gradually achieves a smaller force structure with fewer personnel through attrition. Further, no savings are obtained by reducing military personnel wages or benefits, including TRICARE and pensions. The proportion of private contractor personnel would be significantly reduced, curbing needless outsourcing that creates excessive cost overruns. The contraction in force structure would also reduce expensive modernization requirements, especially for older or unnecessary platforms such as the Trident II nuclear missile, F-35, V-22 Osprey and field alternatives, and the Virginia-class submarine, which are ill-suited to handle current threats. Further, the CPC budget limits the modernization of Cold War-era nuclear weapons and infrastructure, as outlined by the Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures (SANE) Act. In contrast, this budget supports the retention of current Special Operations Forces and their capacities for operations.
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May 24, 2012
Health Care
Page 11
Medicare & Part D Prescription Drug Negotiation. Medicare is a cornerstone of the American health care system and a vital part of life for more than 45 million America seniors. Our budget understands that the health care system cannot be transformed on the back of Medicare which already provides more efficient care to a more costly set of the population. While some budgets suggest ending Medicare or shifting more costs onto seniors, our budget does not ask Americans seniors to pay more, instead we protect Medicare benefits while making the system even more efficient. Our budget amends Part D of Medicare to allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate prescription drug prices with pharmaceutical manufacturers. Since establishment of the Medicare Part D program, the federal government has been expressly prohibited from directly negotiating with drug companies. Giving the HHS Secretary the ability to negotiate Part D prices, the current practice at the Department Veterans Affairs, will yield significant cost savings of $157 billion for Medicare over 10 years and will reduce costs for seniors. Offer a Public Option. Republicans are pushing to repeal the health reform law before it has even been fully implemented. They want to return us to the old status quo, where health insurance premiums rise uncontrollably and the ranks of the uninsured continue to swell. Instead, our budget improves on the Affordable Care Act by allowing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to offer a public health insurance option that ensures choice, competition, and stability in affordable, high-quality coverage throughout the United States. This will save $104 billion over 10 years. Junk Food and Fast Food Marketing. The Institute of Medicine, Federal Trade Commission and the White House, among others have all recognized the role of advertising and marketing junk food and fast food to children in childhood obesity. One out of every three children is overweight or obese, disproportionately affecting kids in low income families as well as African American, Hispanic, Native American and Asian American and Pacific Islander children. Our budget ends the tax deductibility of advertising and marketing junk food and fast food to children. There is no reason for the government to subsidize a contributing factor to a serious health issue for todays youth. Closing the S Corporation Medicare Tax Loophole. Some service professionals have been avoiding Medicare taxes by exploiting a current loophole in the tax code. Under current law, certain self-employed individuals can avoid paying full Medicare taxes by routing their income through an S corporation. To close this loophole, our budget adopts the Narrowing Exceptions for Withholding Taxes (NEWT) Act. It would clarify that individuals that are engaged in professional service businesses are unable to avoid employment taxes by routing their earnings through a limited liability corporation or a limited partnership. Generic Prescription Drug Development and Release. While the Affordable Care Act will expand insurance options for many Americans, there will still be more work to do controlling healthcare costs. Profit driven medicine in not the answer to our countrys health care needs. With this in mind, the Budget for All adopts a number of policies aimed at creating wider accessibility of affordable, generic prescription drugs. State Waivers. The Progressive Caucus believes until we guarantee universal access to quality care, our work is not complete. As states continue to struggle with their state budgets, we will provide them with the ability to set up and administer more efficient state single payer health programs. Our budget provides the necessary waivers, including State Innovation Waivers starting in 2014, three years earlier than under current law, and protects existing federal funding for those states establishing a state single payer program.
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May 24, 2012 Page 11
Comprehensive Immigration Reform There is no doubt that our current immigration system is broken. As a result, millions of individuals are forced to live in the shadows, rather than being able to openly support their families and contribute to their communities. Our immigration laws ought to reflect both our interests and our values as Americans. Supporting comprehensive immigration reform is not only humane, but is also fiscally responsible by generating substantial economic benefits. The Budget for All recognizes that by reforming the system, we allow immigrants to fully integrate into U.S. society and help stimulate the economy by becoming entrepreneurs, small business owners, innovators, and future job-creators. During these tough economic times, we must bring people out of the shadows and allow them to begin a process to become citizens to maximize their contributions to society. Social Security A budget is first and foremost about values. The American people overwhelmingly value Social Security, and the Budget for All stands with Americans in protecting this essential program. The foundation of retirement security of the vast majority of working Americans and retirees, Social Security also protects virtually every child under age 18 and families against lost wages if a working parent becomes severely disabled or dies. The Budget for All proposes modest but important changes to Social Security not as part of deficit reduction by law, Social Security is excluded from surplus or deficit totals but for its own sake to strengthen the program for todays and tomorrows generations of beneficiaries. The CPC budget strengthens Social Securitys finances by phasing out, over 5 years, the cap on payroll tax contributions so that all working Americans and their employers pay contributions at the same rate on all their earnings, just as they have been doing for Medicare since 1994. Today, earnings above $110,100 are exempted from payroll tax contributions. This budget corrects this inequity by requiring the top six percent of all earners to pay the same rate on all their wages as the bottom 94 percent now do. Social Securitys benefits are extremely modest, averaging just $13,500 a year, yet vitally important to the overwhelming majority of its 56 million beneficiaries. Although not scored for this proposal, the Progressive Caucus believes Social Security benefits should be increased. At the very least, benefits should maintain purchasing power over time. With this in mind, the CPC looks favorably on basing future COLAs on the BLSs Consumer Price Index for Elderly Americans (CPI-E) which gives larger weight to the disproportionately large health care expenditures of elderly persons and individuals with disabilities, and consequently, more accurately measures their true rate of inflation. When Congress next takes up proposals to strengthen Social Security, CPC looks forward to exploring options to improve benefits, separate from any deficit reduction discussions. In good times and bad, Social Security works for America. The CPCs budget will keep it working and strengthen its benefit protections for todays beneficiaries, working Americans, their children and grandchildren. This reform would extend full benefits and trust fund solvency for the next 75 years.
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Functional Increases in the Budget for All (FY2013 2022)
Function: 050 National Defense
Restoration, Formerly Used Defense Sites Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs Procurement Technical Assistance Program for small businesses
Function 150: International Affairs (increase of $156.2 billion over 10 yrs)
Reconstruction assistance SMART Security U.S. Institute of Peace McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program Bilateral Global HIV\AIDS Programs (PEPFAR) Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (The Global Fund) USAID Microfinance Child Survival and Health Programs Peace Corps
Function 250: General Science, Space and Technology (increase of $78.1 billion over 10 yrs) Function 270: Energy (increase of $156.2 billion over 10 yrs) Function 300: Natural Resources and Environment (increase of $78.1 billion over 10 yrs)
Science, Aeronautics and Technology Advanced Manufacturing Research Clean Energy Technologies Research STEM Education Research
Renewable energy technology and deployment Energy Innovation Fund Geothermal Technology Weatherization and Intergovernmental Activities Smart Grid Research and Development
Reestablishment of the Civilian Conservation Corps Natural Resources Conservation Service Wetlands Reserve Program Conservation Stewardship Program Land and Water Conservation fund Multinational Species Conservation
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Function 350: Agriculture
Food Safety and Inspection Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Function 370: Commerce and housing credit (increase of $78.1 billion over 10 yrs) Function 400: Transportation
National Network for Manufacturing Innovation Homeless Assistance Grants Choice Neighborhoods Initiative SBA 7(a) and 504 business loan programs National Veterans Entrepreneurship Training (VET) Program
(increase of $213 billion over 10 yrs) Function 450: Community and Regional Development (increase of $78.1 billion over 10 yrs) Function 500: Education, Training, and Social Services (increase of $234.3 billion over 10 yrs)
Highways and bridges Mass transit Aviation
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Community Development Fund Community Development Financial Institutions
ESEA IDEA Drop-out prevention Head Start Youth Summer Jobs Pell Grant interest rate protection Senior Community Service Employment Program Green Jobs Innovation Fund National Endowment for the Humanities Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Adult Employment and Training Activities
TRIO National Endowment for the Arts Home and Community-based Supportive Services Social Services Block Grants (SSBG) On-the-Job Training Early Learning Challenge Fund Dislocated Workers Program Public Telecommunication s Facilities Program Library Services and Technology
Function 550: Health (increase of $156.2 billion over 10 yrs)
Domestic HIV/AIDS Maternal Health Enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Percentages (FMAP) Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) Nursing Workforce Development Program
Mentoring of Children of Prisoners Community Health Centers Center for Disease Control and Pre vention Title VII programs National Diabetes Prevention Pro gram National Institutes of Health (NIH)
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Function 600: Income Security (increase of $312.4 billion over 10 yrs)
Extend and Safeguard Unemployment Insurance Child Nutrition Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) Food and Nutrition Service (including WIC) Section 8 Housing Vouchers (Project and Tenant Based Rental Assistance) Home Investment Partnership Program
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Public Housing Capital Fund Public Housing Operating Fund Affordable Housing Trust Fund Low Income Housing Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Foster and Adoption Assistance for States
Function 700: Veterans Benefits and Services (increase of $156.2 billion over 10 yrs)
Veterans & Military Families Wounded Warriors K-9 Corps VA Medical and Prosthetic Research Veterans Employment and Training Veterans Housing Benefit Program
Function 750: Administration of Justice (increase of $78.1 billion over 10 yrs)
State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance Juvenile Justice DOJ Administrative Review and Appeals Violent crime reduction programs Juvenile Justice Programs Violence against Women Prevention and Prosecution Programs Byrne Justice Assistance Grants Legal Services Corporation
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Deficits fall to less than 1% of GDP under the Budget for All
Debt falls to 62.3% of GDP under the Budget for All
Budget for All | 14
Lower deficit levels achieved by Budget for All than Republican Plan
Budget for All: A More Responsible Route to Fiscal Sustainability
Budget for All | 15
Budget for All on Spending: Investment & Responsibility
Budget for All | 16
Table 1. Policy Modifications for CPC FY13 Budget Alternative CBO March 2012 current law baseline (Billions of dollars) Total Deficit
2012 2013 -1,171 -612 2014 2015 -385 -257 2016 -259 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 -201 -175 -224 -234 -237 -303
Total
2013- 20132017 2022 -1,713 -2,887
Baseline policy adjustments (Impact on primary budget deficit, billions of dollars)

Remove the BCA - both phases Patch AMT Patch SGR Net baseline adjustments (primary) 0 -82 -9 -89 -9 -19 -18 -190 -119 -134 -39 -45 -21 -23 -179 -202 -144 -52 -26 -223 -152 -61 -29 -242 -158 -165 -73 -86 -32 -36 - 263 -287 -173 -181 -177 -101 -119 -140 -40 -43 -47 -314 -343 -363 -631 -1,486 -286 -804 -119 -316 -1,036 -2,607
Additional revenue policy adjustments (Impact on primary budget deficit, billions of dollars) Bush tax cuts: Maintain credits,10%, & 15%, extend 28% thru CY16, extend 25% thru CY18, plus Fairness in Taxation Act, equalization, & Obama policy refundable tax credits Repeal the step-up basis for capital gains at death. Cap the value of itemized deductions at 28%. Replace the exclusion for state and local government bond interest with a direct subsidy. End the exclusion of foreign-earned income. Deny the home mortgage interest deduction for yachts and vacation homes. NEWT Act. Curb corporate deductions for stock options. Repeal lower-of-cost-or-marketing (LCM) accounting . End direct advertising of certain foods (H.R. 4310). Obama's reforms to int'l tax system. Increase certainty - worker classification. Eliminate fossil fuel preferences. Price carbon at $20 (refunding 25%) Reinstate superfund taxes Unemployment Insurance Solvency Act Financial transactions tax Financial crisis responsibility fee Progressive estate tax reform High net worth surcharge (0.5% over $10 mil) Comprehensive immigration reform (non-discretionary)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -5 0 0 0 0 0
-143 18 20 3 4 1 1 2 0 1 7 0 2 55 2 -6 55 8 -12 5 1
-191 -200 36 38 25 28 6 6 1 1 2 0 1 15 1 3 76 2 22 76 8 -19 11 5 9 6 1 1 2 1 1 16 1 3 80 2 20 79 9 -22 19 0
-212 41 30 12 7 1 1 2 1 1 17 1 3 84 2 10 82 9 -23 27 -3
-219 -233 -222 43 46 48 33 35 59 16 7 1 1 2 1 1 18 1 3 88 2 2 86 9 -24 36 2 19 7 1 1 3 0 2 19 1 3 93 2 -3 88 9 -26 40 4 23 8 1 1 3 0 2 19 1 2 97 2 -2 91 9 -27 42 4
-229 51 71 26 8 2 2 3 0 2 20 1 2 103 2 -3 94 9 -28 44 5
-247 -267 54 58 76 81 29 8 2 2 3 0 2 19 1 2 108 2 -2 97 10 -30 46 5 34 9 2 2 3 0 2 18 1 2 114 2 -3 100 10 -31 48 3
-966 -2,163 176 434 136 459 46 31 6 6 12 2 7 73 3 15 383 9 49 378 43 -101 99 5 176 71 13 13 25 3 15 168 8 25 897 20 36 849 90 -243 319 26
Additional spending policy adjustments (Impact on primary budget deficit, billions of dollars) Job creation credits and provisions Investments (NDD plus-ups over removing BCA) President's FY12 surface transportation bill End OCO (both 050 and 150) after FY13 Base DoD cuts Negotiate Rx payments for Medicare Public option Reform rules for Rx development/release Reduce fraud, waste, and abuse in Medicaid Reduce agriculture subsidies Public financing of campaigns -96 -41 -6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -177 -103 -13 0 16 4 0 1 0 1 -1 -99 -71 -26 -160 -171 -159 -15 -18 -22 79 112 126 36 56 71 9 10 12 3 6 8 1 1 1 0 0 0 4 4 2 -1 -1 -1 85 111 -12 123 230 -19 -11 -12 -12 -153 -151 -149 -25 -28 -30 132 138 141 79 85 93 14 16 18 11 14 15 1 2 2 0 0 0 3 4 5 -1 -1 -1 16 3 322 -22 58 -143 180 359 - 23 73 -102 189 434 -21 125 -99 -13 -14 -152 -158 -30 -30 144 147 100 104 21 24 15 15 2 2 0 0 6 5 -1 -1 196 470 -18 203 485 -14 -15 -165 -30 150 108 28 16 2 0 5 -1 210 496 -10 -395 -449 -746 -1,521 -93 -241 449 1,168 259 749 49 156 29 104 5 15 1 3 14 40 -5 -11 444 421 -64 1,423 2,676 -149
Social Security Reform (Off budget primary impact, billions of dollars) Scrap the taxable maximum 0 21 51 Net additional policy adjustments (primary) Debt service impact of policy adjustments Net impact of policy adjustments CPC FY13 deficit -148 -228 0 -4 -2 -7
-166 -422 -188 -104 -11 -1,337 -1,034 -573 -361 -270
138 129 -96 -109
123 -678 -79 -180 -2,391 -2,966
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Table 2. Public Investments and Job Creation (Billions of dollars of outlays, relative to current law)
2012 Job Creation Measures Miscellaneous CPC Initiatives Emergency Jobs to Restore the American Dream Obama's FY12 surface transportation reauthorization Reinstate Making Work Pay (CY2013-2015) Policies from Obama's FY13 Budget Provide a temporary 10% tax credit for new jobs and wage increases Enhance/make permanent the R&E tax credit Provide new manufacturing communities tax credit Provide additional tax credits for investment in qualified property used in a qualified advanced energy manufacturing project Provide a tax credit for the production of advanced technology vehicles Provide a tax credit for medium- and heavy-duty alternative-fuel commercial vehicles Double the amount of expensed start-up expenditures Develop a national network of manufacturing innovation institutes Help entrepreneurs and small businesses access capital and grow Subtotal, job creation Public investments in the NDD budget Undo the Budget Control Act (both phases) Increased investments (NDD plus-ups over removing BCA) Subtotal, NDD plus-ups Total, job creation and public investments relative to CBO March12 current law Addendum: Job creation and investments relative to scrapping BCA 0 -30
Total
2013- 20122022 2022
20132013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2017
-85.1 -113.5 -28.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 -141.9 -141.9 -227.0 -5.9 -12.9 -15.0 -18.0 -21.6 -25.2 -28.2 -30.0 -30.2 -29.6 -30.2 -92.8 -240.8 -246.7 0.0 -45.2 -61.0 -61.8 -15.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 -183.7 -183.7 -183.7
-7.2 -3.1 0.0 -0.8 0.0 0.0 -0.2 0.0 0.0 -102
-10.7 -5.3 0.0 -1.4 0.0 0.0 -0.3 -0.2 0.0 -190
-1.7 -6.3 0.0 -0.8 -0.1 -0.2 -0.3 -0.1 0.0 -114
-0.7 -7.2 -0.2 -0.3 -0.2 -0.2 -0.3 -0.2 0.0 -89
-0.4 -8.2 -0.3 -0.2 -0.3 -0.3 -0.3 -0.2 0.0 -48
-0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 -20.8 -9.2 -10.1 -11.0 -12.0 -12.9 -13.9 -39.4 -0.5 -0.6 -0.7 -0.7 -0.7 -0.6 -1.0 0.0 -0.5 -0.3 -0.3 -0.1 0.0 -36 0.1 -0.4 -0.3 -0.3 -0.1 0.0 -40 0.1 -0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 -0.3 0.0 0.0 -45 -3.6 -1.2 -1.0 -1.7 -0.8 0.0 -488
-13.7 -96.2 -4.3 -2.4 -1.7 -1.7 -2.9 -1.0 0.0 -690
-20.8 -99.3 -4.3 -3.2 -1.7 -1.7 -3.1 -1.0 0.0 -793
-0.3 0.0 0.0 -0.3 -0.3 -0.3 0.0 0.0 -42 0.0 0.0 -43 0.0 0.0 -44
-45
-51
-55
-58
-61
-63
-66
-69
-73
-240
-572
-572
-41 -103 -41 -134
-160 -171 -159 -153 -151 -149 -152 -158 -165 -205 -222 -214 -211 -211 -212 -218 -228 -238
-746 -1,521 -1,562 -986 -2,093 -2,134
-143
-323
-319 -274
-311 -260
-262 -247 -251 -254 -261 -271 -283 -1,474 -2,784 -2,927 -207 -189 -190 -191 -195 -202 -210 -1,234 -2,212 -2,355
-143 -293
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Summary Table 1 - CPC FY2013 Budget Overview ($Billions)

Actual, 2011 Revenues Individual income taxes Social insurance taxes Corporate income taxes Other Total On-budget Off-budget Outlays Mandatory spending Discretionary spending Net interest Total On-budget Off-budget Deficit (-) or Surplus On-budget Off-budget Primary budget deficit Deficit less current law Cumulative deficit rel. current law Debt Held by the Public 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Total 201320132017 2022
In Billions of Dollars 1,091 819 181 212 2,303 1,738 566 1,151 1,249 820 968 240 316 221 361 2,431 2,894 1,875 2,197 556 696 1,450 1,096 399 452 3,398 2,612 785 1,612 1,192 463 478 3,745 2,881 864 1,783 1,286 489 501 4,059 3,107 952 1,946 1,387 482 530 4,346 3,301 1,045 2,070 1,465 476 552 4,563 3,453 1,11 0 2,247 1,535 464 580 4,826 3,661 1,165 2,399 1,603 463 611 5,075 3,855 1,220 2,538 1,674 464 640 5,316 4,044 1,272 2,681 1,747 470 666 5,563 4,237 1,326 8,040 5,929 2,139 2,322 18,430 14,088 4,342 19,975 13,952 4,486 5,372 43,785 33,349 10,436
2,026 1,347 230 3,603 3,104 499
2,201 1,343 224 3,769 3,265 503
2,326 1,364 237 3,927 3,288 639
2,405 1,310 255 3,971 3,262 709 -573 -649 77 -317 -188
2,531 1,277 298 4,106 3,351 755 -361 -470 109 -63 -104
2,704 1,263 361 4,328 3,527 801 -270 -420 151 92 -11
2,807 1,259 422 4,489 3,637 852 -143 -336 193 279 58
2,922 1,266 477 4,665 3,762 903 -102 -310 207 375 73
3,110 1,291 524 4,925 3,967 958 -99 -306 207 425 125
3,290 1,320 562 5,171 4,153 1,018 -96 -297 201 465 138
3,483 1,355 587 5,425 4,342 1,083 -109 -298 190 478 129
3,731 1,398 614 5,743 4,592 1,151 -180 -355 175 434 123 -245 15,360
12,773 29,310 6,474 13,103 1,574 4,338 20,82 1 46,751 17,065 37,881 3,757 8,870 -2,391 -2,977 586 -817 -678 -2,966 -4,532 1,567 1,372 -79
-1,300 -1,337 -1,034 -1,367 -1,390 -1,091 67 53 57 -1,070 -1,113 -166 -797 -422
-166 -588 -775 -880 -891 -833 -760 -634 -497 -368 10,128 11,513 12,656 13,332 13,789 14,154 14,392 14,580 14,757 14,929 15,109
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Summary Table 2 - CPC FY2013 Budget Overview (%GDP)

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Total 201320132017 2022
As a Percentage of Gross Domestic Product Revenues Individual income taxes Social insurance taxes Corporate income taxes Other Total On-budget Off-budget Outlays Mandatory Discretionary Net interest Total On-budget Off-budget Deficit (-) or Surplus On-budget Off-budget Debt Held by the Public
7.3% 5.5% 1.2% 1.4% 15.4% 11.6% 3.8%
7.4% 5.3% 1.5% 1.4% 15.7% 12.1% 3.6%
7.8% 8.8% 6.1% 6.6% 2.0% 2.4% 2.3% 2.7% 18.2% 20.5% 13.8% 15.8% 4.4% 4.7%
9.2% 6.8% 2.6% 2.7% 21.3% 16.4% 4.9%
9.5% 6.9% 2.6% 2.7% 21.7% 16.6% 5.1%
9.9% 7.0% 2.4% 2.7% 22.0% 16.7% 5.3%
10.0% 10.4% 10.6% 7.1% 7.1% 7.1% 2.3% 2.1% 2.0% 2.7% 2.7% 2.7% 22.1% 22.3% 2 2.5% 16.7% 16.9% 17 .1% 5.4% 5 .4% 5.4%
10.7% 10.9% 9.1% 9.9% 7.1% 7.1% 6.7% 6.9% 2.0% 1.9% 2.4% 2.2% 2.7% 2.7% 2.6% 2.7% 22.5% 22.6% 20.8% 21.7% 17.1% 17.2% 15.9% 16.5% 5.4% 5.4% 4.9% 5.2%
13.6% 9.0% 1.5% 24.1% 20.8% 3.3%
14.2% 14.6% 14.5% 14.4% 8.7% 8.6% 7.9% 7.2% 1.4% 1.5% 1.5% 1.7% 24.3% 24.7% 24.0% 23.3% 21.1% 20.7% 19.7% 19.0% 3.2% 4.0% 4.3% 4.3%
14.5% 14.2% 14.1% 14.4% 14.6% 14.8% 15.1% 14.4% 14.5% 6.8% 6.4% 6.1% 6.0% 5.8% 5.7% 5.7% 7.3% 6.5% 1.9% 2.1% 2.3% 2.4% 2.5% 2.5% 2.5% 1.8% 2.2% 23.1% 22.8% 22.6% 22.8% 22.9% 23.0% 23.3% 23.5% 23.2% 18.9% 18.5% 18.2% 18.4% 18 .4% 18.4% 18.6% 19.3% 18.8% 4.3% 4.3% 4.4% 4 .4% 4.5% 4.6% 4.7% 4.2% 4.4%
-8.7% -8.6% -6.5% -3.5% -2.0% -1.4% -0.7% -0.5% -0.5% -0.4% -0.5% -0.7% -2.7% -1.5% -9.1% -9.0% -6.9% -3.9% -2.7% -2.2% -1.7% -1.5% -1.4% -1.3% -1.3% -1.4% -3.4% -2.2% 0.4% 0.3% 0.4% 0.5% 0.6% 0.8% 1.0% 1.0% 1.0% 0.9% 0.8% 0.7% 0.7% 0.8% 67.7% 74.2% 79.5% 80.4% 78.3%7 5.7% 73.0% 70.6% 68.3% 66.0% 64.0% 62.3%
Budget for All | 20

Middle Wisconsin News - September 2012

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Middle Wisconsin News - September 2012

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