House progressives circulate budget of their own

The House Progressive Caucus is circulating a letter urging Budget Committee ranking member Chris Van Hollen to consider their budget proposal as he builds the Democratic alternative to committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget. The letter has a thumbnail sketch of the budget they’d like Van Hollen to propose, and you can download it here (PDF).

The very short version is that it relies heavily on taxes, particularly on the rich and on corporations, and emphasizes a number of investments that we can and should make in things such as infrastructure and early-childhood education. On first glance, it might rely a bit too heavily on taxes, but then, Ryan’s plan relies much too heavily on spending cuts. And from a political-economy perspective, it’s much more courageous to propose taxes on the rich and powerful than spending cuts on the poor and disabled.