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!

 

League of Millionaires Join Populist Call for
Higher Taxes on Richest U.S. Households

Wealthy Entrepreneurs, Executives and Inheritors Join
Broad Movement to Support Tax Solutions for the 99%

BOSTON, MA (April 10, 2012) — Tax day is fast approaching, a Senate vote on the Buffet rule is scheduled for next week and the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts looms at the end of the year. With tax policy at the center of the public debate in this election year, United for a Fair Economy and members of its Responsible Wealth project are supporting tax solutions for the 99%.
 
Wealthy and upper-income taxpayers, including successful entrepreneurs, executives and inheritors, are coming forward to argue that people like themselves should pay higher taxes for the good of the country. They join tax policy experts, organizers, and the majority of the public in support of higher taxes on the rich as the most obvious and sensible first step toward a sustainable federal budget.
 
"The richest taxpayers were handed enormous tax cuts in the Bush years," stated Mike Lapham, the director of Responsible Wealth project. "These tax cuts are driving up our debt and damaging our economy. The rich don't need any more tax breaks, and the country can't afford them."
 
United for a Fair Economy and Responsible Wealth members are supporting tax policies including ending the preferential treatment of investment income by taxing wealth like work, restoring a strong federal estate tax and ending the Bush-era tax cuts.
 
David A. Levine, former Chief Economist at investment-management firm Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., a millionaire and a member of the Responsible Wealth project from New York City, said, "There's no question that we should raise the top marginal rates on people like me with high incomes. Several higher brackets at, say, $1 million, $5 million, and $25 million make sense. We also need to restore the status of dividends as ordinary income. There's no reason to give that form of income as advantage."
 
The Senate is expected to vote on the "Buffett Rule" on April 16. The bill would ensure that people with a million dollars in annual income would have to pay at least 30% in taxes.  Responsible Wealth members Deborah Rappaport and Andy Rappaport derive a significant portion of their income from capital gains and would pay a higher tax rate under the proposed Buffett Rule. "Those of us at the top have built our success on a foundation of widespread well being and opportunity, made possible through long-term public investments in education, research, and infrastructure," said Andy Rappaport, a partner at Menlo Park, CA venture capital firm August Capital. "People at our income level won't be dissuaded from work or investment by higher marginal tax rates and less special treatment."
 
Deborah Rappaport, who runs the Rappaport Family Foundation, added, "It's not fair to ask those who make less than we do to shoulder more than their share of our national investment in the form of taxes. This is why, since 2001, we have given our proceeds from the Bush tax cuts to causes supporting economic justice.  Those tax cuts were unnecessary when they were passed and now they're nothing less than irresponsible."
 
Tracey Lake, a former Wall Street stockbroker who is currently a real estate developer and investor in Seattle, said, "It makes no sense to tax capital gains at half the rate of earned income.  I don't need a lower rate in order to invest. That's just a convenient myth that's been put out there to put a lot more money in the pockets of folks like me who don't need it." As someone who expects to pay the estate tax under current law, she added, "I'm in favor of a lower estate tax exemption.  Anyone who dies with more than one or two million dollars made that money with the help of a lot of public investment, and a portion of it should go back toward supporting the public infrastructure that makes it possible."  The estate tax exemption is currently $5 million per spouse until the end of 2012, when it is scheduled to return to $1 million.
 
According to Lee Farris, the Federal Tax Policy Coordinator at United for a Fair Economy, "The Occupy movement has struck a chord with its focus on the concentration of wealth among the top 1 percent and the fact that some wealthy people are paying lower effective tax rates than the 99%.  A strong estate tax like we had under the Reagan, Bush Sr., and Clinton administrations would generate more than half a trillion dollars over the next decade and curb the growth of dynastic wealth. UFE is organizing thousands of millionaires, wealthy people and ordinary voters to urge Congress and the President to enact changes that will create a tax system that works for the 99%, instead of just the 1%."

The individuals quoted above, along with other spokespeople for this initiative, are available upon request by contacting Maz Ali (617-423-2148 x101, [email protected]) or Shannon Moriarty (617-423-2148 ext. 108, [email protected]).

United for a Fair Economy is a national organization working with grassroots organizers and policy experts to close the growing economic divide in the U.S. Responsible Wealth, a project of United for a Fair Economy, is a network of business leaders, entrepreneurs, inheritors and high-wealth and upper-income advocates of progressive tax policies and corporate accountability.

###

League of Millionaires Join Populist Call for
Higher Taxes on Richest U.S. Households

Wealthy Entrepreneurs, Executives and Inheritors Join
Broad Movement to Support Tax Solutions for the 99%

BOSTON, MA (April 10, 2012) — Tax day is fast approaching, a Senate vote on the Buffet rule is scheduled for next week and the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts looms at the end of the year. With tax policy at the center of the public debate in this election year, United for a Fair Economy and members of its Responsible Wealth project are supporting tax solutions for the 99%.
 
Wealthy and upper-income taxpayers, including successful entrepreneurs, executives and inheritors, are coming forward to argue that people like themselves should pay higher taxes for the good of the country. They join tax policy experts, organizers, and the majority of the public in support of higher taxes on the rich as the most obvious and sensible first step toward a sustainable federal budget.
 
"The richest taxpayers were handed enormous tax cuts in the Bush years," stated Mike Lapham, the director of Responsible Wealth project. "These tax cuts are driving up our debt and damaging our economy. The rich don't need any more tax breaks, and the country can't afford them."
 
United for a Fair Economy and Responsible Wealth members are supporting tax policies including ending the preferential treatment of investment income by taxing wealth like work, restoring a strong federal estate tax and ending the Bush-era tax cuts.
 
David A. Levine, former Chief Economist at investment-management firm Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., a millionaire and a member of the Responsible Wealth project from New York City, said, "There's no question that we should raise the top marginal rates on people like me with high incomes. Several higher brackets at, say, $1 million, $5 million, and $25 million make sense. We also need to restore the status of dividends as ordinary income. There's no reason to give that form of income as advantage."
 
The Senate is expected to vote on the "Buffett Rule" on April 16. The bill would ensure that people with a million dollars in annual income would have to pay at least 30% in taxes.  Responsible Wealth members Deborah Rappaport and Andy Rappaport derive a significant portion of their income from capital gains and would pay a higher tax rate under the proposed Buffett Rule. "Those of us at the top have built our success on a foundation of widespread well being and opportunity, made possible through long-term public investments in education, research, and infrastructure," said Andy Rappaport, a partner at Menlo Park, CA venture capital firm August Capital. "People at our income level won't be dissuaded from work or investment by higher marginal tax rates and less special treatment."
 
Deborah Rappaport, who runs the Rappaport Family Foundation, added, "It's not fair to ask those who make less than we do to shoulder more than their share of our national investment in the form of taxes. This is why, since 2001, we have given our proceeds from the Bush tax cuts to causes supporting economic justice.  Those tax cuts were unnecessary when they were passed and now they're nothing less than irresponsible."
 
Tracey Lake, a former Wall Street stockbroker who is currently a real estate developer and investor in Seattle, said, "It makes no sense to tax capital gains at half the rate of earned income.  I don't need a lower rate in order to invest. That's just a convenient myth that's been put out there to put a lot more money in the pockets of folks like me who don't need it." As someone who expects to pay the estate tax under current law, she added, "I'm in favor of a lower estate tax exemption.  Anyone who dies with more than one or two million dollars made that money with the help of a lot of public investment, and a portion of it should go back toward supporting the public infrastructure that makes it possible."  The estate tax exemption is currently $5 million per spouse until the end of 2012, when it is scheduled to return to $1 million.
 
According to Lee Farris, the Federal Tax Policy Coordinator at United for a Fair Economy, "The Occupy movement has struck a chord with its focus on the concentration of wealth among the top 1 percent and the fact that some wealthy people are paying lower effective tax rates than the 99%.  A strong estate tax like we had under the Reagan, Bush Sr., and Clinton administrations would generate more than half a trillion dollars over the next decade and curb the growth of dynastic wealth. UFE is organizing thousands of millionaires, wealthy people and ordinary voters to urge Congress and the President to enact changes that will create a tax system that works for the 99%, instead of just the 1%."

The individuals quoted above, along with other spokespeople for this initiative, are available upon request by contacting Maz Ali (617-423-2148 x101, [email protected]) or Shannon Moriarty (617-423-2148 ext. 108, [email protected]).

United for a Fair Economy is a national organization working with grassroots organizers and policy experts to close the growing economic divide in the U.S. Responsible Wealth, a project of United for a Fair Economy, is a network of business leaders, entrepreneurs, inheritors and high-wealth and upper-income advocates of progressive tax policies and corporate accountability.

###

The Trayvon Martin case illustrates that we still have a hard time dealing with issues of race in this country. The issue of racial injustice, coupled with economic injustice, is not likely to fade away.

The Census Bureau estimates that by 2042, the population will no longer be majority white. Many believe that this demographic shift will automatically bring with it a qualitative improvement in the situation for people of color.

At the other end of the spectrum, there is a segment of white America that deeply fears the demographic changes and sees in them a threat to its status. Such fears lead some of these people to gravitate toward right-wing populism.

But the demographic changes are not expected to bring about any significant improvements for most people of color, particularly blacks and Latinos, according to a new study, State of the Dream 2012: The Emerging Majority, by the Boston-based United for a Fair Economy.

If current trends continue, we will witness widening gaps in income and wealth, as well as in education and incarceration rates. The study predicts, for instance, that blacks will make 61 cents and Latinos will make 45 cents for every dollar whites make in terms of median family income.

Contrary to right-wing populists' "dystopia for whites," the report paints a picture of a reconfigured Jim Crow — almost an apartheid situation of haves and have-nots.

Most whites won't be benefiting, either. The overall living standard of most of this country, which began to decline in the mid-1970s, will continue to decline. The fates of poor and middle-class whites will be much more connected to those of people of color than to the very rich and largely white ruling elite.

The implications of this report are sobering — even frightening.

We need concerted political and economic action in the days and months and years ahead if we are to conquer our racial and economic disparities. That means not just continuing affirmative action. It also means launching policies of redistributive justice.

Let's face it: Those at the top have been redistributing income and wealth their way over the past three decades. If we don't implement policies that redistribute income and wealth to the vast majority of Americans who need it, our country will become increasingly — and dangerously — divided.

--

Bill Fletcher Jr. is a scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies and the co-author of "Solidarity Divided." He wrote this for Progressive Media Project.

"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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