BOSTON - October 24 - As layoffs mount, the anthrax crisis deepens, and vulnerability
to smallpox terrorism becomes clearer, Congress is set to give budget-busting
hand-outs to the wealthiest individuals and corporations. The $100 billion
stimulus bill, H.R. 3090, scheduled to come before the House of Representatives,
would not only be ineffective for economic recovery, it would be a dangerous
misuse of funds urgently needed for crisis response.
- A hundred
million antibiotic treatments for anthrax infection and better baggage
screening machines at every U.S. airport would cost less than the $12.8
billion speed-up of income tax rate reductions for the best-off 30%
of taxpayers.
- Quadrupling
the Centers for Disease Control budget, extending unemployment benefits
for three million people for 13 weeks, federalizing airport security
with no ticket price increases, and modernizing Amtrak would cost less
than the $40.2 billion tax cut for accelerated depreciation.
- Fourteen
profitable corporations such as IBM and General Motors would get $6.3
billion in rebates of their Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) payments back
to 1986. These companies together had in 2000 a net worth of over $217
billion and $43 billion in cash in the bank. Total AMT rebates would
cost $25 billion, more than the total value of the rebates the bill
gives to the 39% of American households who didn’t get a full rebate
this summer.
Response to
the bill from members of UFE’s Responsible Wealth (RW) project, who
are in the top 5% of wealth or income, has been overwhelmingly negative.
"I’d be embarrassed to take a tax cut at a time like this,"
says New York RW member Richard Perl, President of Pacific Partners International
Investments, Inc. "With so many in my city grieving, digging through
rubble, and losing their jobs, my government should be asking me to pitch
in, not handing me a bonus. The priorities of this stimulus package are
upside-down. It is not just ineffective, it’s unpatriotic."
RW member Dal
LaMagna, CEO of Tweezerman Corporation in Glen Cove, NY, adds, "We’ve
had nine interest rate cuts this year and still nobody’s investing.
Why should manufacturers like my company react any differently to tax
incentives? What drives businesses to expand is demand for our products,
so what we need is a tax and spending package that puts money into the
hands of people most likely to spend it."
United for a
Fair Economy is a national organization based in Boston that spotlights
growing economic inequality.
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