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Nationwide Pay Raise Watch: Time to Soak the Rich Upper Middle Class?

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Maybe associates clamoring for yet another pay raise have a point. Maybe $160,000 is not enough.
Because, if certain Democrats get their way, a new surtax will be imposed that will hit even first-year associates at most large law firms. Under a tax plan proposed by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY), a 4 percent surtax will hit single earners with incomes over $150,000, or married couples with incomes over $200,000. For incomes above $500,000, which are increasingly common in Biglaw, the surtax would rise to 4.6 percent.
So, readers, what do you think? Many lawyers harbor progressive political views. Are you willing to put your money where your mouth is, and support politicians who will raise taxes on people like you?
Update: As noted by several commenters, the full plan has several other provisions. For example, it would lower the top corporate tax rate to 30.5% from 35%, and it would scrap the alternative minimum tax (AMT). For more details, see here.
Feel free to vote in our reader poll, after the jump.


4% Surtax on Incomes Above $150,000 [Dow Jones Newswire via Drudge Report]
Republicans Decry Rangel’s Proposed “Mother Of All Tax Increases” [TaxProf Blog]

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