* Monday, June 14th, 5:00-7:00 pm

* Tuesday, June 15th, 11:30 am-1:15 pm

You are invited to hear Ann Manning, Outreach Director for Wealth for the Common Good, speak on economic inequality and the role of business leaders and wealthy individuals in advocating for shared prosperity.

We know many of you are concerned about the state of our vital public institutions and services- whether quality public education for children, transportation infrastructure, green energy projects, unemployment compensation, affordable health care, effective public health services, or a high functioning judiciary.

Wealth for the Common Good is working to shift the stuck conversation about taxes and help pave the way for progressive tax reform, so our public institutions have the resources they need from those of us with the greatest capacity to pay. Right now they are leading a campaign, calling on President Obama and Congress to allow the Bush-era tax cuts to expire at the end of 2010 on household incomes over $235,000. This could raise an estimated $45 billion in annual revenue.

Join us and learn more about the issues involved.

For more information and to RSVP, contact ann@wealthforcommongood.org.

Co-sponsors:

Headwaters Foundation for Justice is a catalyst for social, racial, economic and environmental justice. Through grantmaking and capacity building support to grassroots organizations, our goal is to foster just and sustainable communities that embrace social racial, economic and environmental equity.

Growth & Justice is a leading progressive voice on state economic issues committed to making Minnesota’s economy simultaneously more prosperous and fair.

Recent Poll Shows Majority of Americans in Both Political Parties Favor Increased Taxes on Wealthy Americans

Contact: Kristi Ceccarossi, 617-477-8630, ext. 307, kristi@wealthforcommongood.org

Boston, MA, April 6, 2010– In the wake of a Quinnipiac University poll which found that 60 percent of Americans in both major political parties are in favor of raising income taxes on households making more than $250,000, a new report released today exposes how increases in tax breaks over the past 50 years have favored the most affluent. The report also details an Economic Tax Recovery Plan that would raise $450 billion in revenue by ending unfair tax benefits to the wealthiest Americans. Download the report.

The study, commissioned by Wealth for the Common Good (WFCG), an organization of high-net worth individuals and business leaders, shows in the last decade alone, individuals with incomes over $250,000 have received more than $700 billion in tax cuts.

Key Findings in the report include:
Over the last half-century, America’s wealthiest taxpayers have seen their tax outlays, as a share of income, drop by as much as two-thirds for the highest-income grouping the IRS tracks. During the same period, the tax outlay for middle-class Americans has not decreased.

America’s highest earners — the top 400 — have seen their share of income paid in federal income tax plummet from 51.2 percent in 1955 to 16.6 percent in 2007, the most recent year with top 400 statistics available.

Tax cuts for the wealthy between 2001-2008 cost the U.S. Treasury $700 billion and were added directly to the national debt. Retaining these tax cuts for another decade will cost an additional $826 billion.

“After 50 years of tax cuts by Kennedy, Reagan and Bush II, the middle class is paying the same share of income as they did in 1960.  The richest 3 percent have gotten the gargantuan share of tax cuts,” said Chuck Collins, co-founder of WFCG.

Authors of the study propose an “Economic Recovery Tax Program,” which they project will collect some $450 billion in new revenue for the federal government through tax increases only on individuals with household incomes of over household incomes of over $250,000. This program would also discourage financial speculation, strengthen the overall economy, and introduce greater transparency, fairness, and simplicity to the tax code.

This report is part of a larger campaign by Wealth for the Common Good to end the Bush era tax cuts, which the group says could generate some $45 billion annually in federal revenue. Nearly 300 of America’s top-earners, along with thousands of other Americans, have signed the group’s on-line petition calling on Congress and President Obama to let tax cuts on high-income taxpayers to expire at the end of 2010.

Featuring:

Jamie Johnson, “Born Rich” filmmaker and Vanity Fair blogger
Eric Schoenberg, investor and Columbia Business School Professor
Chuck Collins and Alison Goldberg, Wealth for the Common Good founders

Learn how those of us in the philanthropy world can leverage billions of dollars toward issues we care about by speaking up for fair tax policies.

This Tax Day, members of Wealth for the Common Good are lifting up a refreshing new narrative about financial success and breaking open a very stuck conversation about taxes and the health of our communities.

Our speakers will talk about how philanthropic leaders can help promote progressive tax reform and ensure the ‘Tea Bag’ anti-tax movement doesn’t dominate the conversation this year.

Location:
North Star Fund 520 8th Avenue, Suite 2203 (between 36th and 37th)

*Reception begins at 5:30 PM; Program begins at 6 PM.

To RSVP, contact Alison at alison@wealthforcommongood.org.

Sponsoring Organizations and Individuals:

Astraea Foundation, Business for Shared Prosperity, Institute for Policy Studies, North Star Fund, Resource Generation, Third Wave Foundation, Wealth for the Common Good, Adam Blank, Bill Lyons, Jason Franklin and Eric Schoenberg.

Learn how those of us in the philanthropy world can leverage billions of dollars towards causes we care about – by speaking up for fair tax policies. Register here for the call.

There is a highly polarized conversation about the role of government and taxes in advancing a healthy and fair economy.  Does the concentration of wealth and power undermine our democracy?  What is the role of public investments and our “commonwealth” in wealth creation and individual success?  How do we celebrate both individual achievement and acknowledge societal investments?  Where will the money come from to pay for overdue investments in infrastructure, energy, and education?

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:  Chuck Collins is co-founder of Wealth for the Common Good, a network of business leaders, wealthy individuals and investors that support fair taxation and shared prosperity (www.wealthforcommongood.org). Chuck is a national expert who has worked to change the conversation about wealth and taxes and responsibility. Chuck is co-author with Bill Gates Sr. of Wealth and Our Commonwealth: Why America Should Tax Inherited Wealth and The Moral Measure of the Economy.

Los Angeles: Thursday, February 11, 2010 from 7:00-9:00 pm

Wealth for the Common Good is partnering with Resource Generation, and Bread & Roses Community Fund in Philadelphia, to sponsor these workshops. They focus on the roles young people with wealth can play in progressive tax reform and are open to anyone who wants to explore the intersections of taxes, privilege and wealth from this perspective.

For more information about the Philadelphia workshop, contact Leah Pillsbury at leahpillsbury@gmail.com.

For more information about the Los Angeles workshop, contact Alison Goldberg at alison@wealthforcommongood.org.

For more information, contact Ann Manning at ann@wealthforcommongood.org

Here’s the description:

Join us for a unique opportunity to learn about some of the big tax policies that are up for debate and how young people with privilege and wealth can engage in fair and progressive tax reform. You don’t need to know anything about tax policy to participate! Learn about income taxes and inequality, how wealth and work are taxed differently, and what we can do to ensure the estate tax is maintained. This workshop was designed by Wealth for the Common Good, an emerging network of business leaders, wealthy individuals, and partners supporting public policies that promote shared prosperity and fair taxation.

This workshop is part of an ongoing series we developed for Resource Generation, to bring young people with wealth into a conversation about progressive tax reform.

The program is free and open to the public, but please RSVP to dfelder@mecep.org

The Maine Center for Economic Policy advances public policies that help people prosper in a strong, fair and sustainable economy. We advance this mission through high-quality research, analysis, citizen education, and coalition building. MECEP is an independent, nonpartisan organization. To learn more, visit www.mecep.org

Wednesday, July 22, 2009 – As states across the country are forced to cut health care and education programs to bridge massive budget deficits, a cross section of America’s wealthiest individuals and business leaders are calling on President Obama and Congress to immediately reverse the Bush-era tax cuts rather than wait for them to expire in 2011. The group, Wealth for the Common Good, includes former Starbucks CEO Howard Behar and Microsoft’s principal architect, Arul Menezes, among others with annual incomes over $235,000, who have joined this emerging network. They will hold a news teleconference laying out their initiative to promote increasing revenue to help pay for improvements in health care, education, infrastructure and energy systems by raising taxes on the wealthy.  The group will deliver a petition signed by 190 of America’s top earners along with close to 1,000 others to the President, Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi and House Republican Leader John Boehner. The signers are urging them to reinstitute the progressive income tax structure.

“Our country is facing the worst economic challenge since the Great Depression. There is an urgent need to make a long overdue investment in bringing jobs and stability back to our communities.” said Chuck Collins, the co-founder of Wealth for the Common Good and scion of the Oscar Mayer fortune, “this investment should be paid for, in part, by repealing the Bush-era tax cuts that our country can no longer afford.”

WHAT: Teleconference: Launch of Wealth for the Common Good’s campaign for the roll back of Bush tax cuts
WHO: Arul Menezes, Principal Architect Microsoft, Bill Collins, former Mayor of Norwalk, Connecticut, Chuck Collins, Co-founder, Wealth for the Common Good, Alison Goldberg, Coordinator, Wealth for the Common Good.

WHEN: Wednesday,  July 29th ,  11 ET

Wealth for the Common Good was established to bring together a network of business leaders and high net worth individuals who want to play a role in public policy and promote pragmatic and progressive tax reform.

(Organizational affilitions for our speakers are listed for identification purposes only. They represent themselves, not their employers.)