A leading Senate conservative is taking aim at tax breaks that he says amount to welfare for millionaires, a line of critique that usually comes from liberal Democrats.
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) released a report detailing special tax breaks for wealthy income earners that could give members of the supercommittee common ground for raising tax revenues.
The report found millionaires enjoy about $30 billion worth of “tax giveaways” and federal grants every year — almost twice NASA’s budget, the report notes.
For years whenever someone on the left brought this up they were quickly called a socialist and engaging in class warfare against the rich. I wonder how the right will react to one of their own now saying it? Wait! Actually Coburn isn’t just one of their own, but he is one of the most conservative members in the Senate, and look what else his staff found:
His staff found that millionaires received $74 million worth of unemployment checks from 2005 to 2009; $316 million in farm subsidies from 2003 to 2009; $89 million for the preservation of lands on ranches and estates in 2009 and 2010; and $7.5 million to compensate for property damages caused by disaster.
And it found that nearly 1,500 millionaires did not pay federal income tax in 2009.
In 2009, 18 people earning more than $10 million a year received an average of $12,000 in unemployment benefits. That same year, 74 people earning between $5 million and $10 million received $18,000 in benefits, on average, according to the report. In 2008, 2,840 millionaires received unemployment benefits — an average of $6,500 per beneficiary.
Welcome to the outrage that the 99% feel Senator Coburn! Maybe the right will start seeing what all the Occupy Wall Street fuss is about. That’s just a maybe and not something I would bet on, sadly enough.