The Republicans argument over the debt ceiling is becoming increasingly ridiculous. And apparently, asking for millionaires to share some of the sacrifice is pathetic, at least according to Sen. Jeff Sessions, a Republican from Alabama.

The top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee called the idea “pathetic” after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) proposed a measure. The non-binding resolution states: “It is the sense of the Senate that any agreement to reduce the budget deficit should require that those earning $1,000,000 or more per year make a more meaningful contribution to the deficit reduction effort.”

Reid’s measure includes how the income gap continues to grow. He cited statistics that state the median income of S&P 500 companies chief financial officers jumped $2.9 million last year alone, even though the “median family income has declined by more than $2,500″ in the last 10 years. The resolution also notes that 20 percent all income goes to the top 1 percent, and 80 percent of the nation’s income growth over the last quarter century has also gone to the top 1 percent.

Sessions and his colleagues did not express any interest in the growing income disparity in the United States, stating only delays getting around to major cuts. “It’s a sense of the Senate,” Sessions scoffed. “We’re supposed to have legislation in place by Aug. 2 to deal with raising the debt limit — and that’s got to be real numbers and real figures.”

“So I guess we can say we’re beginning to talk about something with this rather pathetic response from the majority leader,” he said. “I’m not happy about that.”

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn) was also not impressed with the resolution, but suggested it was a sign Democrats were getting ready to listen to the GOP. “While today, obviously, we’re not going to have anything really serious to talk about — it’s just a sense of the Senate — my sense is that very quickly we’re going to have something before us that actually is real,” Corker said.

Reid spokesman Adam Jentleson commented on the GOP statements: “Apparently, nothing irritates Republicans more than the prospect that millionaires and billionaires might be asked to share in the burden of deficit reduction.”

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About the author

Erin Chavez
Erin Whitney-Chavez has been writing professionally since 2009. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts from St. Bonaventure University and received a Master of Arts in mental-health counseling from Argosy University. Erin Whitney-Chavez is a licensed mental health counselor and has worked in the mental-health field for more than 10 years.

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