"Unnecessary Austerity"

Reversing tax giveaways to the super-rich and the nation's largest corporations could raise $4 trillion within a decade and avert possible government closures, according to a newly released report.

Today the Institute for Policy Studies issued the report "Unnecessary Austerity," which states Congress could raise more than $4 trillion in revenue over the next decade by "reversing years of tax giveaways to the richest Americans and largest corporations."

The report examines massive shifts in the tax code since 1961, the year President Barack Obama was born.

CHUCK COLLINS
Collins, co-author of the report, said today: "This potential shutdown is an unnecessary exercise. Congress has prioritized tax cuts for the wealthy and failed to crack down on corporate tax dodgers, fueling a budget crisis." He directs the Institute's Inequality and the Common Good project.

The report prescribes eight new potential revenue sources. Taken together, they would boost revenue by $4 trillion over the next decade. Policy recommendations include:

* Closing overseas tax havens ($90-100 billion)
* Adding new tax brackets for households with more than $1 million ($60-80 billion) in annual income
* Instituting a modest financial transaction tax ($150 billion)

Collins added: "America's increasingly concentrated income and wealth, coupled with historically low effective tax rates on the richest households, are fueling the deficit, according to this new report. For example, if U.S. corporations were taxed at the same effective rate that they paid in 1961, the additional tax revenue would total $485 billion."