How can organizations working for tax fairness cultivate a strong and loyal donor base? This free Tax Fairness Tune-Up webinar will provide practical tips for grassroots organizers to build a strong donor program to keep supporters engaged year after year. Register today!

FREE TAX FAIRNESS TUNE-UP WEBINAR TRAINING:
After the Gift: How to build donor loyalty
Thursday, July 19, 2012
1:00 PM - 2:15pm EDT

Register Now!

What do your donors want after they give? Why do they stop donating? And how can you increase the commitment, satisfaction and trust of your donors? This free Tax Fairness Tune-Up webinar will answer all these questions and provide you with lots of concrete tips for building a strong donor program that keeps your supporters giving year after year.

Presented by Tina Cincotti, owner and principal consultant of Funding Change, with over 15 years of development experience. Funding Change specializes in working with small nonprofits and has a particular focus on assisting grassroots groups working for social change. Register now!

WATCH VIDEOS OF ARCHIVED TUNE-UPS

We wish to inform all our members, partners, and the public that United for a Fair Economy's offices have moved! Our new location and address is:

1 Milk Street, 5th floor
Boston, MA 02109

The new office is located in the Downtown Crossing area of Boston—just around the corner from our previous location—and just minutes from all lines of the MBTA.

Our phone number remains 617-423-2148.

"America has been fantastic" to Will Smith. Like those profiled in our book, The Self-Made Myth, the 43 year-old actor, who makes an average salary of $36 million and has an estimated net worth of $215 million, knows much of his success wouldn't have been possible anywhere else but here in the U.S. As such, he has "no problem" paying higher taxes for the good of the country.

Here are eight reasons why you should agree that the rich should pay higher taxes:

1. Tax rates on the richest U.S. households are at historic lows.
2. The share of national income going to the top 1% has reached a historic high.
3. The richest 1% have all but recovered from the Great Recession, while the bottom 99% experience stagnation.
4. Low taxes increase economic inequality.
5. Lower tax rates do not lead to economic growth.
6. Low taxes on the rich worsens the racial economic divide. (pdf)
7. Historically, the wealthiest Americans have paid higher taxes during wartime (like right now).
8. He is the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. His break-through role was about a young man's infiltration of the top 1%. Now, he's actually in the top 1% and believes very wealthy people like himself should pay higher taxes. Considering the facts above, we should all agree.

In case you're unfamiliar with the show, the opening sequence sets the premise. Enjoy!

What was YOUR share of the Bush tax cuts?

Take the Tax Pledge to help ensure the Obamas, the Romneys and other wealthy Americans pay their fair share!

This is a critical year for tax fairness. The Bush tax cuts are set to expire at the stroke of midnight on December 31st. Those tax breaks were a bad idea from the get-go, because they largely went to upper-income households that didn't need them.

We should let the Bush tax cuts expire—it's one of the only ways to meaningfully address our revenue crisis and make long-overdue investments in our economy. But, it's going to take bold action to ensure Congress and President Obama do the right thing by allowing them to expire.

United for a Fair Economy and Responsible Wealth are calling on progressive tax advocates throughout the country to support the movement to end the Bush tax cuts and restore fairness to the federal tax code. You can show your support today in three easy steps:

Calculate your savings from the Bush-era tax cuts by entering three numbers (or rough estimates) from your tax return into our tax cut calculator.

Take the Responsible Wealth Tax Fairness Pledge to "reject" the Bush tax cuts.

Donate your savings to the tax fairness organization of your choice.

Join Responsible Wealth members Marnie Thompson and Stephen Johnson of Greensboro, NC, both of whom will take the pledge again this year. Last year, their savings were over $12,000. Each year, they donate their savings to UFE's efforts to end the Bush tax cuts, strengthen the estate tax, "tax wealth like work" by raising the capital gains rate, and support state-level tax fairness organizing.

Thanks to the support of committed progressive tax activists like Marnie, Stephen, and many others, this work is producing results. More people are learning that our tax code is tilted in favor of the wealthy. And more people are taking action to bring the fight for progressive tax policies to Capitol Hill and to state capitols across the country.

We can make significant progress by demanding that Congress and President Obama do absolutely nothing by allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire at the end of the year. But, it won't be that easy. It's going to take a lot of work over the next eight months—awareness-raising, organizing, educating, and mobilizing—and we need all the help we can get.

If you believe our tax code is rigged in favor of the wealthy and that the richest Americans should pay their fair share, then make a bold statement in support of progressive tax policies by taking the Responsible Wealth Tax Fairness Pledge today.

The Great Recession has worsened inequality, and the wealthiest Americans have emerged unscathed—richer in some cases. Meanwhile, conservative officials are hacking away at programs for struggling poor and middle class households. Shared sacrifice is more important now than it has ever been. That's what we're fighting for and we hope you'll join us.

United for a Fair Economy and Responsible Wealth have been working on several fronts this month to spread word that the wealthiest Americans need to pay their fair share in taxes. Why? Because they've benefitted the most from our collective investments and should pay it forward so others have the opportunity to do the same.

Here are a few highlights of the coverage we've earned through our various efforts.

WATCH NOW

We participated in a Congressional briefing with a tax fairness all star panel moderated by the intrepid John Nichols of The Nation magazine. The event banded together representatives from five outstanding organizations, including Responsible Wealth director Mike Lapham, to discuss ways to generate federal revenue and revive our suffocating economy by raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations.

Our efforts paid off in a big way. The night before the event, we received word that C-SPAN would be there to nationally broadcast the discussion. It was a standing room only event with a very engaged audience. The country watched, learned and shared. And, so can you.

The Congressional briefing was the opening act for President Obama's address on the Buffett Rule. He enlisted the support of four millionaires, including Responsible Wealth supporter Abigail Disney, to stand with him in support of the millionaires' tax.

David Levine

David Levine, Responsible Wealth supporter and former chief economist for investment management firm Sanford C. Bernstein, participated in another panel discussion with the Tax Policy Center.

The panelists explored this basic question: "Should the rich pay higher taxes?" David's expert perspective on marginal income tax rates garnered a citation on MSNBC.com and an extensive interview by Ezra Klein at the Washington Post.

Eric Schoenberg

One of our most active Responsible Wealth members, former investment banker and current Columbia professor of behavioral economics, Eric Schoenberg, spoke at a tax day rally in DC and blasted away at leading tax grump Grover Norquist. Eric's words were well-received by the energized crowd and are now making their way through the progressive blogosphere.

UFE's federal tax expert Lee Farris went on Between the Lines radio to discuss sensible ways to address our revenue crisis, including the Buffett Rule, ending the Bush tax cuts, "taxing wealth like work" by raising the capital gains rate and strengthening the federal estate tax. Listen now.

Responsible Wealth and our allies working with other affluent fair tax advocates have been making so much noise from the east coast that they heard us clear across the country. The San Francisco Chronicle threw us all a shout-out this week in a column about wealthy people of the west coast demanding that their taxes be raised.

This work is ongoing, and we can always use more support. You can still take action to help move a fair tax agenda forward. One specific way is to calculate your share of the awful Bush-era tax cuts and redirect those savings toward tax fairness organizing efforts by taking Responsible Wealth's Tax Fairness Pledge.

As an added treat, here are some photos from the tax day rally we joined in Boston. There were a lot of feet on the street, a lot of creative demonstrations and a lot of voices calling on Bank of America and other financial giants to stop tax dodging and pay their fair share. After all, we did bail them out. Now it's time to get ours. Yes, the tax justice movement is-a growin'.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Lee Farris, UFE's resident tax policy expert, has compiled a list of some of the best actions, information, and tools for organizing and learning on tax day:

• The 99% Spring is well on it's way to training 100,000 activists. Take the free online training here, and find a local 99% Spring event here.
• The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) continues to provide excellent information on taxes. Their three-part series, "Thinking About Tax Policy," is a clear and easy to read refresher on tax reform. Part 1: The Most Important Tax Reform Chart, Part 2: Taxes Today Are Low, and Part 3: In the Search for More Revenue Start at the Top. Misconceptions and Realities About Who Pays Taxes (PDF) from CBPP is also an important read.
• Learn about six ways to restore balance to our tax system from Demos and the American Prospect.
• The National Priorities Project has wonderful tools for understanding where our tax dollars come from and what you are paying for. With Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ), they're keeping track of how much the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest are costing us every minute of the day.
• CTJ also put out some great tools of their own this tax season. The Buffet rule didn't make it out of the Senate, but their report on it is still worth reading. Their research is featured in a new documentary on corporate tax dodgers; watch a preview here and find a local screening here. And while you're watching things, you ought to learn about Mitch who wants to pay no taxes at all.
• And please sign on to the National Education Association petition to close corporate tax loopholes.

Have a great tax day! Keep organizing, learning and sharing for tax fairness all year long.

Mark your calendars! Raise the 'Roots: Grassroots Organizing for Tax Fairness, the annual conference of the Tax Fairness Organizing Collaborative,is coming to Nashville on May 16th and 17th! Spaces are limited; register today!

How can tax fairness organizers create a bottom-up economic justice movement in which those most affected by economic inequality are actively engaged, setting the agenda, and pushing for change? Raise the ‘Roots, the annual conference of the Tax Fairness Organizing Collaborative, will examine this mission-critical question, exploring actionable tips and strategies for community organizers to connect more effectively with diverse constituencies to promote progressive tax policies.

The conference is presented by the Tax Fairness Organizing Collaborative, a network of state-level grassroots organizations that advocate for progressive and adequate state taxes. The TFOC is a project of United for a Fair Economy, an economic justice nonprofit based in Boston.

Admission is $75 and open to allies and advocates involved in the tax fairness movement. This conference is appropriate for community leaders, activists, and organizers, legislators, people concerned with tax policy, people not yet concerned with tax policy, policy wonks, journalists, foundation representatives, people with good ideas, and anyone else who believes in the power of a bottom-up movement.

Learn more, read a draft agenda, and register now!

 

"I have attended many workshops and conferences over the years and I cannot remember one that was as meaningful as this one.  I came home filled with great ideas, new techniques, renewed enthusiasm and many warm feelings about you three and the entire group. My heart was touched, my mind challenged and my body energized. Hard to beat this experience."

—Mark McDermott, Minnesota Training of Trainers participant

The U.S. economy is sputtering along, creating new jobs at a rate that won’t get us back to pre-recession levels for at least another decade. An austerity program is shrinking the public sector, tearing apart the remaining social safety net and widening the racial economic divide. Meanwhile, the top 1% are riding higher than ever. The influence of big money in politics continues to grow and the 2012 elections will push such spending to obscene heights. Global trade agreements continue to spur a race to the bottom, economic dislocation and migration, and the inability to rein in too-big-to-fail financial institutions adds up to a frighteningly unstable and potentially catastrophic economic outlook.

Last fall, however, this doom and gloom scenario was pierced by the Occupy movement. The encampments, an increase in street heat activism and the brilliant reframing of the debate on the economy, from a focus on deficits and government spending to the 1% vs the 99%, has provided us an extraordinary moment in history. Although the persistence of extreme inequality, the opportunity for broad-based movement and significant social change has dramatically increased.

The role of education — not sound bites, but thoughtful reflection, analysis, and strategizing — is crucial to the success of the rejuvenated organizing and mobilizing that is taking place. We need to make sense of what's happening and further challenge the dominant narrative that ignores the structures that systemically drive inequality. We need to create and unite behind a vision of an equitable, sustainable, and democratic economy. We need to establish the conditions for a democratic, multi-racial, multi-class progressive social change movement that can alter the established relations of power.

UFE's Popular Economics Education Training of Trainers Institute explores these questions and gives participants tools for analysis that will inform and inspire action.

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Updated April 17, 2012

Tax Day is here! This Tax Day, we at United for a Fair Economy urge you to work with us for Tax Solutions for the 99%.

Our tax code is rigged to benefit the richest 1% among us.
We need Tax Solutions for the 99%.

2012 is a pivotal year. Not only do all of the Bush tax cuts expire at the end of this year, but the outcome of the November elections could very well determine the future of our tax system.

We must tell Congress that Tax Solutions for the 99% will raise enough revenue to fully fund the vital government services that we all count on. The richest 1% and big corporations have gained the most from our economic system and can afford to fund the government that helped to enable their success.

Here are five actions you can take on Tax Day to help advance Tax Solutions for the 99%:

1. Tell Congress and President Obama to support Tax Solutions for the 99%.
Sign on to our letter that outlines a comprehensive plan of tax changes that will lead to a tax system where wealthy people and big corporations join the rest of us in paying their fair share.

2. Put your money where your values are!
Take UFE’s Responsible Wealth Tax Fairness Pledge today! Calculate your tax savings from the Bush tax cuts and redirect those savings to tax fairness organizing efforts around the country.

3. Attend a Tax Day event.
UFE is working with many organizations tax day events that will highlight the need for Tax Solutions for the 99%, including:

If you missed the Tax Fairness All Star Panel on April 11th in Washington, DC you can click the link to watch the C-SPAN recording of it. The Panel Discussion: Should the Rich Pay Higher Taxes?, presented on April 12th by the Tax Policy Center. You can watch Reponsible Wealth supporter David A. Levine make excellent points on the recorded broadcast here. April 17th Tax Day Rally in Washington, DC.

4. Attend a training or local tax day event.
Be a part of the goal to train 100,000 people in non-violent direct action. Participate in the free online training to be a part of the 99% Spring. And you can find a local Tax Day event through MoveOn.org or WeAreOne.

5. Spread the word.
Be an ambassador for the 99%. Check out Lee's Links for some of the best tax day actions and info. Share infographics on your Facebook wall. Tweet about inequality via @ufe and #fairshare. Download and print a rally sign. Make noise; create change.

What if there was a way to bring in substantial new revenue to pay for vital public services? What if we could generate that revenue exclusively from those who can best afford it, the estates of millionaires and billionaires, and at the same time reduce economic inequality? We'd be crazy to not do it, right? Well, the good news is that a strong estate tax will do exactly that.

At a time when so many essential government programs are facing painful cuts or even elimination as a result of low federal revenues, restoring a strong estate tax can be a big step toward solving some of the problems facing our federal budget and addressing the growing epidemic of persistent economic inequality. There is a bill currently in congress, The Sensible Estate Tax Act (H.R. 3467), that would be an excellent estate tax reform.

The American's for a Fair Estate Tax (AFET) coalition, which is made up of more than seventy national and state groups including membership organizations, advocacy groups and labor unitions, just sent a letter urging congress to pass H.R. 3467 (PDF). Among the reasons AFET supports H.R. 3467:

• The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that federal estate and gift taxes will generate $516 billion in revenue from 2013 through 2022, assuming that the 2010 estate and gift tax cut expires as scheduled at the end of 2012.

• Other policy options would be fiscally irresponsible. CBO found that extending the estate tax reduction in effect for 2011 and 2012, which increased the estate tax exemption to $5 million per spouse and reduces the top estate tax rate to 35 percent, would cost $432 billion over the following decade.

• Existing tax breaks would continue to protect small businesses and farms under either the pre-2001 rules or the Sensible Estate Tax Act. A CBO analysis (PDF) found that only 0.3 percent of taxable estates were either family held-business estates or estates of farmers and lacked sufficient liquid assets (like cash, stocks, and bonds) to pay the estate tax. That’s why opponents of the estate tax have not been able to find a single farm that had to be sold to pay the tax.

The Sensible Estate Tax Act would also make important reforms that reunify the gift and estate tax exclusions; make permanent the portability of the exemption for spouses; restore the state credit to provide critical revenue for states without increasing taxes; close loopholes in the asset valuation and minority discount rules; among a number of other reforms.

It's a great bill. Unfortunately, every Republican tax proposal includes eliminating the estate tax, and President Obama supports extending the estate tax at its lowest level from the Bush tax cuts. Neither of these options is nearly good enough. That's why AFET is pressuring congress and building support for the Sensible Estate Tax Act.

For more on AFET's support of H.R. 3467, read our press release.