House GOP lawmaker to introduce ‘millionaires tax’ bill

Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) announced on Thursday that he will introduce legislation that includes the Obama administration’s controversial “millionaires tax.”

The legislation, however, comes with a caveat — the five percent surtax on individuals making more than $1 million would be in exchange for an equally controversial balanced budget amendment, which Democrats oppose.

“If we are going to take financial calamity off the table both parties will need to come together,” Crawford said in a statement. 

“Republicans have long championed a balanced budget amendment to force the federal government to live within its means. Democrats have pushed for new taxes on millionaires to address our debt. This reasonable approach can be the beginning of a new era in Washington where Congress puts the needs of the country first and stops burdening future generations of Americans with immense debt,” he continued.

Republicans have argued that raising taxes on the country’s top earners would stifle economic growth, while Democrats have lined up against the balanced budget amendment because they say it could wipe out social programs during hard economic times and cede Congress’s budget authority to the courts.

Democrats have seized on the millionaires tax in the midst of recent Congressional battles, such as the fight to extend the payroll tax cut last December, as surveys indicate public support for a tax on the wealthiest.

President Obama proposed a 30 percent minimum rate on the country’s highest earners at his State of the Union address in late January.

“You can call this class warfare all you want,” Obama said. “But asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as his secretary in taxes? Most Americans would call that common sense.”

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