On the recordApril 16, 2012
as millions of Americans prepare to file income tax returns, the Senate will consider one of the basic unfair provisions in the Tax Code. Today the wealthiest 1 percent takes home the highest share of the Nation's income since the early twenties, the Roaring Twenties. But while their bank accounts have grown, their tax bills have become smaller. The wealthiest Americans now pay the lowest tax rate in more than five decades. The rich pay less than they have for more than 50 years. This unfair system has turned a gap between the richest few and everyone else into a gulf, not a gap. Over the last few decades, a small number of Americans have seen their incomes skyrocket by almost 300 percent, but for the rest of Americans wages have barely moved. They have not kept pace with the price of a modest home, college, or, of course, a secure retirement. Times are tough for many middle-class American families, but millionaires and billionaires are not sharing the pain or the sacrifices--not one bit. Last year there were 7,000 millionaires who did not pay a single penny in Federal income taxes. Seven thousand millionaires did not pay a single penny in taxes. Instead, ordinary Americans footed the bill. That is not fair. In recent years some Americans earning north of $110 million a year paid a lower tax rate than millions of middle-class families. That is also not fair.…
