WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Elizabeth Warren is proposing a so-called ultra-millionaire tax as she vies for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
According to two economists advising her presidential campaign on the plan, the tax would hit an estimated 75,000 of the wealthiest American households.
The new tax plan released Thursday by the Massachusetts Democrat would impose a new 2 percent fee annually on American households’ net worth greater than $50 million.
The overall new tax bill on wealthy households would rise to 3 percent for households on their net worth above $1 billion under Warren’s plan.
Economists Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman of the University of California, Berkeley, project that the tax proposal would generate about $2.75 trillion over 10 years.
Warren opened an exploratory committee for the 2020 presidential race last month
The “Struggling Billionaires” tax…
“But if you take 2 to 3% of my money…”
“YOU’RE STILL FILTHY, STINKING RICH!!!”
“But that’s not faiiiiirrrrr!”
“Tell that to the single mom making minimum wage, Thurston. Oh, and fuck off.”
Makes perfect sense to me.
The good thing is that this will hit everything they own, not just income (the wealthy don’t really have income that gets taxed like the rest of us, they get a huge gift from that). It also opens the discussion up on something that hasn’t been discussed for decades, making sure the wealthy pay their fair share. There will be huge outcries by Republicans about this, and they will try to make it sound like it taxes everyone, but I think Warren framed it so that won’t work. And, I think Americans will be in favor of taxing the wealthy based on their net wealth (and that should be the worldwide total, not just US holdings).
Can it pass Congress? Nope, not until Republicans get pushed out enough to learn that they need to follow the will of the people again.
This proposal is way too meager, IMHO. It ought to be up in the 40-50% range, with all their coveted tax loopholes permanently closed.