Only Harold Ford has the guts to take to the pages of Forbes and stand up for the principle that the richest people in America should get everything they want:
The most important thing our leader can do is to push the reset button with business and not raise taxes on companies in a time of economic hardship. The U.S. economy and workers benefit from a strong, healthy relationship between government and business. America's most powerful job-creation engine, the private sector, remains under intense pressure from the uncertainty surrounding tax rates and new regulations, among other things.
As a part of the reset, the President and Democrats should make permanent the current middle-class, capital gains, and dividend tax rates; extend the current rate on top earners for two years; cut the corporate tax rate by half; and suspend the payroll tax -- for both employers and employees -- for six months starting Jan. 1 for all businesses with 500 or fewer employees. And as a compromise on raising rates on the top earners after 2012, the affected income level should be raised to $1 million from $250,000 -- and Republicans should accept a nine-month extension of unemployment benefits for those hardest hit by this downturn.
I hope this kind of truth-telling doesn't hurt Ford's chances of securing a plush gig at one of the well-heeled institutions dedicated to punishing the rich and powerful. Hopefully some private equity firm can take him under their wing and allow him to continue to speak truth to power.