A June 7 Pew poll found strong support for tax increases to reduce the deficit; 67 percent of people favor raising the wage cap for Social Security taxes, 66 percent favor raising income tax rates on those making more than $250,000, and 62 percent favor limiting tax deductions for large corporations. A plurality of people would also limit the mortgage interest deduction.
On June 6, the Tax Policy Center posted a study of the corporate tax rate throughout history.
On June 3, Rep. Sander Levin, ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, gave a speech that discussed the issue of tax reform in great detail.
A June 2 Gallup poll found that while people believe that wealth is unfairly distributed by a 57 percent to 35 percent margin, they also oppose governmental measures to redistribute wealth by a 49 percent to 47 percent margin.
On June 2, the House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing on how tax reform can reduce unemployment.
On June 1, the Economic Policy Institute published a study marking the 10th anniversary of the 2001 Bush tax cut. It argues that they were both unfair and ineffective.
Also on June 1, Citizens for Tax Justice, a labor union backed group, published an analysis of the corporate taxes paid by 12 large corporations. It found that they collectively had a negative tax rate on $171 billion in reported profits.
And on June 1, the Joint Committee on Taxation published a report http://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=3794 on the taxation of business income.
A May 18 paper by University of Pavia economist Bernardi Luigi examined the role that taxation may have played in the economic crisis in Europe and ways tax policy might improve growth.
I last posted items on this topic on June 1.
Bruce Bartlett is an American historian and columnist who focuses on the intersection between politics and economics. He blogs daily and writes a weekly column at The Fiscal Times. Bartlett has written for Forbes Magazine and Creators Syndicate, and his work is informed by many years in government, including as a senior policy analyst in the Reagan White House. He is the author of seven books including the New York Times best-seller, Imposter: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy (Doubleday, 2006).