Billionaires Tax Being Worked on by Dems
Democrats, led by Senate Finance Committee chairman Ron Wyden of Oregon, are hammering out the details of a proposed “billionaires tax.” The plan would tax the unrealized capital gains of people who hold $1 billion in assets or have earned $100 million or more in income for three years, and focus only on publicly traded assets. That narrow emphasis means only about 745 people would be affected.
Already, billionaires and their defenders are whipping up a frenzy about this proposed tax, claiming it’s too radical. Please. America’s billionaires saw their collective wealth increase by $2.1 trillion during the pandemic — a 70 percent increase. Elon Musk saw his wealth jump by $36.2 billion in a single day this week, a new record. Yet their tax obligations have barely budged, and some of the richest men in the country have gotten away with paying $0 in federal income taxes over the years.
What’s really radical here is allowing this staggering inequality to continue. If you can add over $30 billion to your net worth in one day, surely you can afford to pay your fair share in taxes. This billionaires tax is sorely needed. – Via Robert Reich FB
Chris Coons has already proposed a compromise wherein billionaires still pay zero, but working single parents pay more. Other wise…S0cILisM!!
Privately held corporate assets, mainly by hedge funds, now exceed the total value of all publicly traded assets, so a tax that only affects publicly traded companies will drive more capital out of the markets that can be taxed into those that can’t. So I’m going to hold off on the huzzahs.
Ok. But it is not like this is the last tax that can ever be imposed. If the money sneaks off, why not follow it and tax in its next hidey-hole as well?
On the other hand, why not head it off at the pass? I will guess that it’s because the Democratic funders who are OK with this proposal already hold their assets in places where this tax wouldn’t apply.
My initial preference would be to rescind the citizenship of Elon Musk and Peter Thiel, and to throw Zuckerface in prison and deny him haircuts. I don’t care that they’re billionaires, I care that they influence politics in the U.S.
You influence politics. Anchors influence politics. Political parties influence politics. Media titans influence politics.
People with lots of money influence politics far more than anyone else, by the design of people with lots of money.
And you know it. Stop being an obtuse dick. Oh, wait — that’s your whole shtick.
Taxing the rich is rather popular, even with the Republican base. As ever the Republicans, aided by their lap dog Coons, will fight it tooth and nail. But it’s not going to go away and is clearly awaiting it’s “Teddy Roosevelt” moment. Hope to live to see it, not holding my breath.
I sometimes think that opposition to the “billionaires’ tax” and similar proposals is rooted in the American Dream. Whether it be by winning the lottery or some other marvelous stroke of fate, we harbor this foolish belief that somehow, some day, we too will be billionaires — and we damn well don’t want to be taxed when we magically strike it rich, rich, rich.
None of the other arguments I’ve heard in opposition to this tax make any sense, so I’m growing more confident that my analysis is correct.
I think you are right. All of end stage capitalism is involved in promoting the fantasy that riches are just around the corner. I take part in the fantasy myself from time to time buying an occasional powerball ticket.