Green Party VP Candidate On Tax Policy

The picture above is of Cheri Honkala, the Green Party's vice-presidential candidate. As you know, the Green Party candidate was not invited to participate in the vice-presidential debate (in spite of being on enough state ballots to have a mathematical chance of getting 270 electoral votes). This was extremely unfair to the Green Party (and to the Libertarian Party, which also has significant ballot access and was excluded), but fairness doesn't seem to have a very big part in our presidential elections.

USA Today decided to throw the third party candidates a meager bone, and invited them to submit an answer to one question from the debate. Ms. Honkala decided to respond about tax policy. Here is what she had to say:

Poor, working and middle income families will pay much less in taxes, while the very rich, major corporations, Wall Street and polluters will pay more.

But tax policies are only a part of the picture. We have to look at where we as a society invest our resources. Do we fund education or prison? War or employment?

Through the Green New Deal, Jill Stein and I propose to reform our tax system to fund the transition to a new economy based on the principle of full employment. We have to be realistic about what this country and its citizens need. We must value people over profits.

Specifically, we will impose a 90% tax on the salary bonuses paid at the big banks that were bailed out. We will implement the Financial Transaction Tax -- also known as the Robin Hood Tax -- which would be 50 cents on every $100 of Wall Street trades and transactions and would produce $350 billion a year. I pay a sales tax when I buy everyday items; Wall Street needs to pay its share as well.

Polluters will be taxed. Taxing pollution is good environmental policy. It encourages innovations that lead to emission reductions. It makes a lot more sense than current practice of free pollution below a set emission level. This tax also gives an advantage to innovators who pioneer clean production techniques and encourages consumers to seek clean alternatives.

With genuine tax reform of this kind, we can reorder our nation's priorities and fully fund our schools, jobs programs, and community needs.