The thinking that we can simply Tax The Rich and get out of this fiscal mess we've spent the better part of 40 years making is just (mainly liberal) propaganda. It sounds good and its a great excuse to keep spending more money and ignore the deeper problem. This is no different than The Right insisting we can fix the deficit via tax reductions on the wealthy. Both are merely convenient arguments to justify what either group wants to do in the first place.
The fact is we spend too much money as a government and we could liquidate all the billionaires right now for $5.2T. The 2023 budget deficit was $1.7T and 2024 is coming in about $1.6T. At that rate we'd gain about 3 years of a balanced budget by liquidating every US billionaire at todays market value. POOF! Then we're all out of billionaires 3 years later and we now have to invent some new taxation scheme and saddle some other relatively well to do segment of the population to pay for our overspending habits.
Bagging on the billionaires is fun and I get it but its not a solution. Its a fun distraction like "Look over here at these rich guys - THEY'RE NOT PAYING ANY TAXES". Its as if our elected officials and policy makers seem to be saying "Don't look at me spending all this money - LOOK AT THOSE PEOPLE NOT PAYING THEIR FAIR SHARE".
Its a fact that a significant portion of US citizens get more money back on tax "refunds" than they paid in - this in the form of various tax credits. Yes some people at the top are paying a relatively low tax bill by the percentage of their income. Its also true that a big portion of the lower end of things pays zero tax percentage on their much smaller income.
Yes tax the billionaires - what do they really care anyhow - but tax the entire population too. In order to have a valid stake in a society I think its helpful that everyone have a real horse in the race. Pay some taxes - NOW you have a reason to vote.
I don't want to simp for the billionaires... but here we are.
This is fallacious nonsense: "Honestly, I don't think this mild tax hike for billionaires will happen even if Biden wins his reelection because the richest Americans have all the resources on earth ready to fight this, but it would be a small course correction to a tiny number of people that could really shift how the rest of us get to live."
No, it wouldn't.
The cumulative net worth of America's billionaires is about $5.2 trillion. If we went full tankie and made them all take a 25% haircut on everything -- income, unrealized gains, the whole shebang -- that gets the government about $4k worth of additional revenue for every American in year one. Years two through infinity? Probably less, since now there's less billionaire pie and since most of that remaining capital will flee the country.
I get it -- they've got a pile and we don't. But I am not convinced, in a country where 40% of households pay zero federal income tax, making the system more progressive and more confiscatory counts as fixing a policy failure.
The fact is we spend too much money as a government and we could liquidate all the billionaires right now for $5.2T. The 2023 budget deficit was $1.7T and 2024 is coming in about $1.6T. At that rate we'd gain about 3 years of a balanced budget by liquidating every US billionaire at todays market value. POOF! Then we're all out of billionaires 3 years later and we now have to invent some new taxation scheme and saddle some other relatively well to do segment of the population to pay for our overspending habits.
Bagging on the billionaires is fun and I get it but its not a solution. Its a fun distraction like "Look over here at these rich guys - THEY'RE NOT PAYING ANY TAXES". Its as if our elected officials and policy makers seem to be saying "Don't look at me spending all this money - LOOK AT THOSE PEOPLE NOT PAYING THEIR FAIR SHARE".
Its a fact that a significant portion of US citizens get more money back on tax "refunds" than they paid in - this in the form of various tax credits. Yes some people at the top are paying a relatively low tax bill by the percentage of their income. Its also true that a big portion of the lower end of things pays zero tax percentage on their much smaller income.
Yes tax the billionaires - what do they really care anyhow - but tax the entire population too. In order to have a valid stake in a society I think its helpful that everyone have a real horse in the race. Pay some taxes - NOW you have a reason to vote.