Resolution Against Permanent Tax Cuts for Richest
WHEREAS the federal government is obliged to aid America’s poor and to protect America’s environment and natural and human resources, but funding to do so is nearing depletion; and
WHEREAS the tax cuts targeting America’s riches 1-2% have been enacted for a temporary period do to automatically expire in the year 2010; and
WHEREAS the above-referenced tax cuts place an increased tax burden on the other American citizens, especially the poor and middle class at a time when the federal government is spending more than ever in history; and
WHEREAS the current Republican federal administration considers America to be in a protracted war against terror for an indefinite period, a circumstance that traditionally requires all segments of the country’s population to sacrifice for the common cause according to their means; and
WHEREAS the poor and middle class families of America have family members in the armed forces of the United State in disproportionate numbers compared to the families of America’s richest 1-2%, and are sacrificing these family members as well as paying a disproportionate share of federal tax; and
WHEREAS the current Republican federal administration has increased the national debt to an all-time high contrary to a consensus of professional advice that paying down the national debt should be a high priority; and
WHEREAS to continue its huge spending for an ill-advised military adventure in Iraq the current Republican federal administration has borrowed money from countries it has identified as a potential future threat to American interests, with the result that such countries could hold the American economy and foreign policy hostage; and
WHEREAS future generations of Americans will be burdened with an enormous debt to which the current Republican federal administration has committed them; and
WHEREAS advocates of giving a tax cut to America’s richest 1-2% claim that this would increase their investment in the economy, but these same people work toward a world market while investing, to a large and growing extent, in more profitable foreign markets at the expense of the American economy; and
WHEREAS the beneficial effects any investment of these private individuals might make to the American economy is diluted by the “trickle-down” method rather than going to programs that aid the poor and middle class directly; and
WHEREAS it is difficult to track any beneficial economic effects of private investment to specific groups of citizens who most desperately need assistance or to find how much, if any, such investment has “trickled down” to this population; and
WHEREAS the rich citizens who have benefited directly from these tax cuts convert their financial power to political power and arrange many ways to further avoid taxes; and
WHEREAS the greater spending power of those rich citizens who have benefited directly from these tax cuts results in an inefficient use of common national and world resources, causing greater consumption of these resources, pollution and degradation of the environment; and
WHEREAS the current Republican federal administration and its rich supporters advocate a “pay-as-you-go” approach to national services, and common resources whereby an individual pays for the service or resource as they use it, but the group of citizens effecting the greater environmental and cultural impact pay a disproportionately smaller share of the real cost to the environment and natural resource depletion; and
WHEREAS common sense and normal morality dictate that those who can most afford to pay their share and who take a disproportionate advantage of federal services and consume a disproportionate share of natural resources should pay a greater share of our common costs;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that all the Whatcom County Democratic Party (WCDCC) urges the Washington State federal Congressional Delegation to exercise every effort in opposing a proposal to make permanent the tax cut for the country’s richest 1-2% of its citizens.(Date Passed 04/08/2006 by Whatcom County Democrats)
