What would a progressive tax policy look like?

Ezra Klein:

Progressives have been so thoroughly bludgeoned on taxes that they've lost all appetite for engaging the issue. The Democrats running for president (with the exception of Mike Gravel who is, embarrassingly, a FairTax advocate) all have tax plans, but none do much beyond simplifying the filing system and offering the middle class some "tax relief." Both are potentially worthy goals, but they approach the discussion on firmly conservative terms: Taxes are too high, and they are too complicated. [...]

Cornell economist Robert Frank has a particularly elegant proposal for a progressive sales tax that's tabulated at year's end, rather than at the point of sale. Under his system, come tax time, families would report their income, just as they do now, but also their savings (how much they've invested, kept in the bank, etc). The difference between the two would be their taxable consumption. Everyone would then get a standard deduction of $30,000, effectively exempting low-income families from taxation altogether. As the total taxable consumption rose, so too would the rates, just as is true now. A taxable consumption of $15,000 might pay 10 percent in taxes. At $8 million the top rate could be as high as we chose to make it. [...]

A more confident progressive leader could try to generate some momentum on the issue on his or her own terms. They could, as Al Gore has suggested, implement a carbon tax, using the tax code to clean up the environment. They could, as Robert Frank has suggested, use the tax code to encourage savings and investment and take a stand against the conspicuous consumption arms race currently being carried out in the top slivers of the income distribution. They could do any of a number of things and force the Republicans to argue against those goals and values.