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Budget season has sprung.
Those billionaire tears aren’t from Biden’s budget proposal, it’s just allergies. Buuuut if they were crying, it would be from the sheer excitement of helping to fund federal programs, right? Right?!?
Biden’s budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year includes a “billionaire tax” that would require the wealthiest Americans to pay at least 25 percent in taxes on all wealth over $100 million. Rather than cut programs like Medicaid to reduce the deficit, taxing the wealthiest Americans their fair share seems like a much better idea, don’t you think? Jeff Bezos can probably afford to pay a little more in taxes if he can afford two yachts. Honestly, it seems like a lot of upkeep, and we would be happy to take one off his hands.
Data for Progress finds 68 percent of voters support the billionaire tax, including 67 percent of Democrats, 68 percent of Independents, and 51 percent of Republicans. Seems like voters, including Republicans, want to live in a society where we actually hold billionaires accountable and don’t punish people by cutting Medicaid. Who could have predicted that!?!
Data for Progress also finds voters are pretty down bad for the environment. While we’re always eager to see cherry blossoms bloom around the world, it’s too early, we simply weren’t emotionally prepared, and climate change is to blame. Voters support keeping investments in domestic clean energy technology manufacturing in Biden’s budget by a +35-point margin and are in favor of keeping investments in clean energy and weatherization to cut energy costs in the budget by a +32-point margin.
Voters are clearly in favor of taxing the wealthy and investing in climate change, and honestly, why not both? Let’s implement Biden’s budget proposal and save the planet one fiscal year at a time (or maybe a bit faster than that).
Read the full blog and polling here.
Here are some other highlights from DFP this week:
Bernie joins the cast of Abbott Elementary.
That’s a lie, but it would be fun if he did. We recommend a 3-episode arc to promote the Pay Teachers Act, which would ensure that all public school teachers earn at least $60,000 per year. Quite frankly, it’s absolutely insane that teachers are currently making less than that. Anyone who’s teaching fractions to a group of 30 unhinged 11-year-olds for seven hours a day should have a big enough paycheck to land on the billionaire tax radar.
Middle schoolers’ brains aren’t developed, they’re going through puberty, and their personalities are being formed by TikTok Chris (not an ad). Please, teachers, take all of the money. Data for Progress finds voters agree with that sentiment. Seventy-seven percent of voters support guaranteeing a $60,000 minimum salary for public school teachers, including 88 percent of Democrats, 77 percent of Independents, and 67 percent of Republicans.
We live in a world where milk costs a small fortune. We should probably pay the people shaping the next generation a livable salary.
Check out the polling here.
Let the children eat CHIPS.
Children don’t come cheap. Their clothes may be smaller, but they still cost a lot and some strollers are so expensive they should be insured. Another insanely high cost? Childcare.
While countries like Sweden look out for parents by maximizing the cost of childcare based on a family’s gross income, America decided to take a different approach and make childcare unaffordable. In 2022, the average cost of childcare in the United States was $10,174 per year, and during the pandemic, the cost of nannies rose by 20 percent. While we agree that Super Nanny deserves the world on a silver platter, it can’t be at the expense of unaffordable childcare.
The high cost of childcare is harming both parents and children, and honestly, iPad kids are already weird enough. To help ease the costs, the Biden Administration is expanding access to childcare through the CHIPS and Science Act. Any semiconductor company that requests $150 million or more in federal funding from the CHIPS Act must guarantee affordable, high-quality childcare for their employees. That sounds pretty reasonable to us (@ republicans)!!
Data for Progress finds 68 percent of voters support requiring high-quality childcare through the CHIPS Act, including 86 percent of Democrats, 62 percent of Independents, and 55 percent of Republicans.
In fact, voters are so supportive of the CHIPS and Science Act childcare policy that 59 percent of voters believe the requirement is necessary, including 83 percent of Democrats, 54 percent of Independents, and 40 percent of Republicans. True to form, Republican lawmakers are trying to push the narrative that the requirement is an excessive form of government intervention in the private sector. Well, sorry Republicans, it seems like voters disagree with you. But if you really want to oppose this policy, why don’t you watch the kids? Super Nanny Mitch McConnell! We would 100 percent watch that show.
Read the full blog and polling here.
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